Hidden Power
by M.J. Cullen
Summary: A Syaoran fic: Syaoran never remembered the promise he made to God. But he still has no choice but to find the Guardians of earth, wind, and sky to save the world from Chaos.
1. The Promise

Hey! Ana-malia here, again! Anyway here I go trying to write THIS one again. I know what happens since the idea is an old one. It's just…WRITING it.

Anyway getting back to THIS one, READ AND REVIEW PEOPLE! Criticism and flames are always welcome, but so is 3 praise 3 .

**-------------------------------------Hidden Power: _Chapter 1-The Promise_**

At Tomoeda High, a middle aged woman jerked open the door to the 9th grade classroom and waited. Then she took a peek up over the top of the doorway. Maybe she expected the bucket full of brown syrup, or whatever the hell was in that bucket, to come crashing down like it did last Monday. But last Monday it actually hit HER instead of the floor as it did today. She wasn't stupid enough to fall for that prank again.

She shot a smug look to a certain auburn-haired boy sitting at the front of the class. 'See?' the look said. 'You think I'm an idiot? Just watch me, you little punk!'

The kid named Li Syaoran shook his head with a grin. _Women. They thought they knew it all. _You can bet she was more than startled when she reached into her desk and grabbed a handful of earthworms and screamed her head off.

Li Syaoran walked out of school that day with a grin. He was the most feared kid in school. And why not? He was tough in every way. He'd been the toughest guy in Tomoeda Elementary since he arrived. NOONE got the better of him or dared to. He was UNTOUCHABLE!

Suddenly he yelped and fell to the ground with a crash like someone had whacked him behind the head. But no one was there. No one that WE could see.

"WHY! WHY THE HELL DO YOU GUYS TORTURE ME LIKE THIS!" he roared into the air. He heard laughter from above and grit his teeth. _Of all the people, why me!_

Ever since last month Syaoran had had to put up with the little lights that claimed to be the sprites (or spirits) of earth, water, fire, and sky.

"_Because you're so funny when you fall Syao-kun!_" a little voice giggled hysterically. Syaoran glared at the little spirit of water.

"_You're face gets all twisted and red like a tomato_," the earth spirit reported and Syaoran glared in the earth spirit's direction.

"_Like carrot top there_," the spirit of sky piped referring to the fire spirit. Syaoran sighed. _Same routine every week_.

"_WHAT! Suddenly I'm a carrot? What do I look like to you all!_"

"_FAT AND ORANGE!" _the others chimed happily.

The fire spirit growled, _"The Prophet is calling for you."_

Syaoran grunted, "Whatever. Just leave me alone." It was just another one of their stupid jokes. They loved to pull pranks and Syaoran was sure this was just another one of them.

"_No, really. No joke. He wants to talk to you," _the earth spirit said.

"_And he doesn't like to wait!"_ warned the sky spirit crackling with electricity.

"I really don't care." Syaoran drawled, "The guy can just…"

The air around Syaoran whirled and he got dizzy until it all came to a halt. He wasn't on the sidewalk near his school anymore. No, he wasn't even on EARTH anymore!

Wispy clouds surrounded him and the stars shone like diamonds in the sky set against a tapestry of royal blue. Before him were four hooded figures, each of a different color. Red, black, white, and light blue. And in the center was a throne that rose into the background and looked really evil. Even creepier, Syaoran couldn't see who was SITTING on it.

"_Told you he doesn't like to wait!"_ the sky spirit crowed.

"_Yeah! Toldja so!" _the water spirit added flitting around Syaoran.

"_That's the Prophet,_" whispered the earth spirit nodding to the person or thing on the throne.

Syaoran looked up at the throne, "Who IS he?"

"_The messenger of the God,_" the spirits breathed.

"WHAT!"

"_Li Syaoran. Welcome,_" a light voice whispered. "_It's good to see you again. God is pleased."_

"The who? Listen I dunno what the he…"

"_Chaos is coming again, Pyro and God has called you to become the Chooser as you had promised."_

"I didn't promise CRAP!" Syaoran frowned at the figure on the throne. Of course the person…or thing or whatever it was ignored him. Somewhere above him Syaoran heard a giggle which he recognized immediately to be the earth spirit and swatted at the air impatiently.

"_Long ago a great evil came to the world known as Chaos and destroyed the Earth. In your…past life, if you will, you and the other Guardians promised to never let it happen again. You promised to stop the world from destruction at all costs. And so now I act on behalf of the God to call you to duty. Chaos is coming and I call you to search for your fellow Guardians and stop World's End, or in simpler terms the end of life itself."_

"Okay first of all, I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. I sure as heck ain't no "guardian" but I love the story that you put together. You can make money off of all of that creative talent you got, buddy."

"_Butty? Did he…?" _the water spirit posed for a second, puzzled.

The sky spirit guffawed, _"HA! He called the Prophet butty! That's funny!"_

"_As in the human 'buttocks'?"_

Syaoran ignored the little sprites and growled, "I didn't make any promise…"

Suddenly something in his mind clicked and it felt as though he were being possessed. In his mind's eye he saw a beautiful girl with large emerald eyes and sakura blossoms in her hair smiling at him and his heart thudded. Something fluttered in his chest and one word came to mind…_Sakura…_What the…?

"_You are the Guardian of Fire, Pyro, and you have been called to perform your duty as you promised to do in your former life: To find your fellow Guardians of Earth, Water, star, and Sky."_

Without meaning to or even realizing he did so, he had bowed low to the creepy throne and in a voice he didn't even recognize as his own he said, "I accept and acknowledge my duty as promised. For the world's sake."

The little spirits cheered, "_SAKE!" _and wasted no time in busting out the sake bottle and popping the cork. (AN: Is sake even sold in bottles?)

The spell broken, Syaoran turned and charged at the little creatures yelling, "NOT SAKE! SAKE AS IN SAKE!" (like that made any sense…) The little spirits giggled and flew apart as Syaoran sought to swat them in vain.

Soon he wasn't in the clouds in front of the hooded figures anymore. Instead he was running around in circles in his backyard whirling his hands at the little sprites. In the window of his mother's mansion his older sister Li Fanren peered curiously at her brother as he ran in crazy circles. That was DEFINITELY not the martial arts her baby brother was practicing.

In the distance a voice said with a smile, _"So it starts..."_

"NO! NO SAKE! I SAKE..I MEAN, I SAID SAKE AS IN FOR YOUR SAKE!" Syaoran hollered. (SyaoranßSTILL not making sense)

POP!

"_SAAAAKEEEEEEEE!" _they cheered.

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Wow, I haven't written a fic in like….ages. And all this came from nowhere. I think that this is pretty good considering how many times I've tried to actually write this story. This story is a REALLY old idea. I mean I had this idea in the 7th grade..and I'm in the 11th GRADE NOW! Hopefully this will go well. I'm not gonna be too conscientious about what I write anymore. That's my problem. So here I go!

Foots

Sake: _(The little spirits cheered, "SAKE!" and wasted no time in busting out the sake bottle and popping the cork)._

n. A Japanese liquor made from fermented rice.


	2. Holdup

………………………..takes a deep breath………………...

**---------------------------Hidden Power: _CHAPTER 2..Holdup_**

Math class as Syaoran hears it:

"You cannot multiply matrix A and matrix B if the column of matrix A and the row of matrix B are not the same…

But then again if you feel like you want to, then by all means, do it! I mean math sucks anyway and who cares, really? Besides I'm a crappy teacher. So why am I here teaching it? Why does ANYONE teach math? It's so damn boring anyway. Ah, why don't we all go home already and have a nice bottle of yooohoo. Then we can all K.O!"

Syaoran groaned and his head fell back onto his desk. Actually K.O-ing wasn't such a bad idea. It was the third time he'd actually been trying to listen to the lesson since the teacher had threatened to flunk him. School sucked but flunking was pathetic even for someone like him. But last night's episode had totally trashed him up until now. No more sake….KAMI-SAMA no more sake!he pleaded.

Outside, the little spirits clamored by the window watching Syaoran's hangover with great interest. They usually stayed out of the classroom realizing (to their dismay) that Syaoran was supposed to be working in class.

Bubbles popped over his head as he stared at Hiiragizawa Eriol next to him who just happened to be drawing a cloud and lightning on his notes. Beside him was his last math test: A+. Brain, figures. Feeling someone was watching him Hiiragizawa looked up suddenly and made a face at Syaoran whose mouth was hanging open. The little brain hid his paper with a scowl and turned back to the teacher.

"Li are you listening to me?" the teacher rapped a rolled up book on the desk causing it to shake. Syaoran shook his head unconsciously as the desk rattled beneath his head (Syaoran's facial expression: squik! X.X) and the little spectators outside squealed with delight at the expression on his face.

After class Syaoran sighed on his way out of school and use his arm to shield his face from the blazing sun.It's so freaking bright today. Finally I can…

"PLEASE GIVE THAT BACK TO ME NOW!" a voice rang out in the hallway. Syaoran looked up wearily when the person in front of him stopped abruptly. Damnit, what's the hold up?He looked above the sea of heads to see Hiiragizawa glaring angrily at two guys. One of the boys had Hiiragizawa's binder and was laughing at the moon and sun that the brain had sketched on the front. Takashi Saito and Tetsuya Nomura.

(AN: I dunno if these are actual guy names since I tend to grab names from Japanese anime, manga or cartoons sometimes. Anyone who can guess where Tetsuya Nomura comes from I'll give you a special prize :P HINT: It's a famous game. Not Final Fantasy. It's more for kids. I'll tell the answer in chapter 4)

"HA! These pictures are so lame, Hiiragizawa. It looks like geeks really DON'T have any others talents except for school work cuz your drawing sucks." Hiiragizawa glowered at Nomura darkly.

Syaoran rolled his eyes. What morons. Just felt like trashing any kids walking by. It was true that Syaoran himself was a bully but he didn't stoop THAT low. His area of expertise was more lunch money when he needed it and teachers were his favorite target. He was about to yell at everyone to hurry the hell up when he noticed the sky and frowned.

It was getting extremely dark. He was sweating heavily a few seconds ago but now he found himself shivering a bit from the howling wind. Other kids obviously noticed the change too and starting murmuring to each other.

"Syaoran! Syaoran! Look at four-eyes!_" _the water spirit whispered into his ear with excitement. At first Syaoran had no idea what the thing was talking about until he looked at Hiiragizawa who was glowering at Nomura and Takashii. His eyes flashed dangerously and he looked ready to knock Nomura's lights out.

His expression, it's just like the weather, Syaoran thought suddenly. A thought occurred to him and he elbowed his way to the front of the crowd. "MOVE IT!"

"Oh stop acting all TOUGH Hiiragizawa you know you wanna hit me. Come on! Hit me! I DARE you!" one bully grinned horribly and offered his cheek mockingly.

"Hey! Don' mind if I DO!" a voice exclaimed sarcastically. Syaoran waited for the guy to turn around before landing a punch on Takashi's face. The guy staggered backwards, totally caught off guard. He looked up at a sneering Syaoran fearfully. No one had the guts to mess with Li. He could kick pretty much anyone's ass.

Syaoran rubbed his knuckles and smiled smugly at Takashii and looked at Nomura, "Were you offering too?" he asked nicely. Nomura threw the binder to Syaoran and threw Hiiragizawa a dirty look before making a break for it. Syaoran gave Hiiragizawa his binder back.

"Thank you, Li," he murmured. But Syaoran wasn't paying attention. He was too busy looking at the sky with great fascination. Interesting…

Then he looked back a Hiiragizawa and addressed the crowd, "ANYONE ELSE WANNA PICK A FIGHT?" crickets chirp "IF ANY MORE MORONS CAUSE ANY MORE TRAFFIC TODAY I'LL COME AND FIND EM!" then he started to walk out of school and everyone made a path.

When he got outside he thought to himself, He changed the weather. The sky changed so fast…could Hiiragizawa be the Guardian of Sky?

A small object hit Syaoran in the back of the head and he nearly keeled over. Oh God, I'm still hung-over.

"Wow Syao-kun I didn't know you could fight like that!_"_ the water spirit gushed.

Syaoran ignored it and continued.

"Bully at 12 o'clock!"the fire sprite called and Syaoran looked up. The sprite chuckled. The boy glared at the air.

"Four eyes at 6 o'clock!" the earth spirit whispered. This time Syaoran didn't even BOTHER looking up. "Er, I'm SERIOUS this time."

"Erm…Li?" a voice called out timidly. Syaoran wanted to grab the little sprite and throw it into a tree in annoyance. He turned around, with 4 little spirits crying with laughter in the tree anyway, and saw Hiiragizawa looking at him curiously.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.

Hiiragizawa smiled timidly and said, "Just to thank you. Why did you help me anyway?"

"None of your business. I just wanted to get outta there, okay? Don't let it get to your head."

Slowly Hiiragizawa smiled as if understanding. And behind him slowly but surely, a double rainbow flitted across the sky as if to mirror his pleasure at Syaoran's words. Syaoran stared.

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AhhhhhHH! I feel so weird and sad portraying Hiiragizawa as a sort of dork. I mean I'm sure alotta pplz out there think he is but I find him to be so CUTE! I love the powerful gentleman. So sexy somehow. sigh


	3. Guardian of Sky

Damn, I wish that I could draw pictures to go with this story and kinna attach it to the chapter yknow? Then Kale could attach MY picture to HIS story! And, I'd be happy to be sponsoring my pictures and someone ELSE and…yeah!

------------------------**Hidden Power: _Chapter 3...Guardian of Sky_**

Syaoran looked at Hiiragizawa and the kid just looked back at him starting to get faintly annoyed that Li kept staring at him.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"

_He has absolutely no clue. Or does he?_ Syaoran pointed behind Hiiragizawa and he turned around and saw the double rainbows.

"Didja know you caused that?"

"WHAT! The rainbow?" he cried obviously thinking that SOMEONE was not okay upstairs.

"Er…" (--''')

Syaoran didn't say anything. _Jeeze, it's kinna hard to find out if he made that rainbow without me looking like a mental case._

"Hey Syaoran, are ya sure you don't want any help from us_?" _the water spirit whispered from the tree. Obviously he knew Syaoran needed it. Great.

But Syaoran didn't want to admit he had no idea what to do. He wasn't even completely sure he knew how to prove Hiiragizawa might be the Sky Guardian. He was only running on a hunch. And it wasn't like he was doing it for the gang of Tinkerbell wannabes either. Maybe if he actually DID find these four Guardians or whatever he could ask for a favor or something like that. To get rid of the lights dancing around his head.

A certain emerald eyed girl popped into his head at the moment. In a flash he saw her holding out her arms to him, just calling to him. Syaoran's heart rate sped up. _Sakura…._Who is she? Why did she keep on popping into his head? Maybe the Prophet knew. T.T All the more reason to finish this thing.

Then he thought of something. If the kid's emotions matched with the weather, then maybe he would fool around with the Hiiragizawa's emotions a little. (A/N: sniffle…I'll pray for you.)

He turned around to Hiiragizawa and said, "Hey know what? I'm sick and tired of you being such a sob and hanging around me. Why the hell did you come following me anyway? KAMI-SAMA, get a life would you! I didn't stick up for YOU. I did it so that I could get outta school faster!"

Hiiragizawa just looked at him for a second and Syaoran looked for some sort of reaction. Slowly the double rainbow began to disappear. _More. I need more change, _Syaoran thought dreading his next move.

He lifted Hiiragizawa off the ground by his shirt and yelled at him, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING STARING AT ME, YOU LITTLE BRAT! GET LOST!"

Hiiragizawa's eyes reflected shock, surprise and immense hurt all at once. Or maybe he could just smell the sake in Syaoran's breath. It seemed as though he was starting to like Syaoran just a little bit and the feeling for Syaoran was mutual. But he got his desired reaction. The sky began to darken very quickly and Hiiragizawa looked like his little cat had just died.

To put on the final touches Syaoran raised his fist, "Didn't you hear what I said, Hiiragizawa?" Thunder rolled in the distance and it started to get kinda cold_. One more touch. _Syaoran's fist began to shake as he held it before Hiiragizawa's face.

But then something happened. He noticed how Hiiragizawa looked and stopped. He dropped the boy and staggered a little mumbling to himself. He couldn't do this. This was _so _wrong. Lunch money, yeah easy. Teachers, that was fun. Picking on a helpless kid (AN: aha! Not really helpless I bet!) that was something he couldn't do.

Even though Syaoran didn't do what he had planned, he got what he was looking for. Hiiragizawa came behind Syaoran curiously. _Why did he stop?_ Hiiragizawa wondered.

"I-I….I'm sorry Hiiragizawa. I just…I just can't do shit like this," he murmured.

Hearing this it started to rain and Syaoran turned around. Hiiragizawa looked like he was tearing just a little, "Are you serious?" Hiiragizawa asked tentatively. "You're not really that bad of a bully are you, Li?"

Syaoran frowned. For a moment, Hiiragizawa Eriol thought something was wrong again. Syaoran pointed above Hiiragizawa's head and the young man looked up. And then he stared.

It was true that it was raining. And even as Eriol stared it only rained harder. Droplets of rain fell from the sky, pelting Syaoran. But all the while, the raindrops never hit Hiiragizawa. It was as if there was some sort of invisible umbrella above his head. Hiiragizawa held out his arms and spun around in wonder, shocked speechless at his own shield.

_Huh, he IS. Hiiragizawa Eriol is the Sky Guardian. _But even so as Syaoran smiled, the sun started to come out and a warm wave of heat rose from the ground. Syaoran's clothes weren't wet anymore.

Syaoran walked forward and put a hand on Hiiragizawa's shoulder, "Come on," he said. "I gotta show you something." They turned around and were greeted with large flashes of light. Syaoran yelled, totally caught off guard.

"Welcome Ciel!" they sang together. Hiiragizawa looked back up at them in surprise.

"Was this what you meant to show me Li-kun?" Syaoran was bent over catching his breath. Then he started to swat at the little lights viciously.

"NO! IT'S NOT! THEY are little PESTS!" he growled.

The little fire spirit growled back at him"I KNOW you JUST did not call me a pest! Are inferring that we're small!"

"Yeah, I actually DID call you a pest. Though you're not small. You're BIG pests!"

The two went on bickering until it started to get very cold. Syaoran looked up but Hiiragizawa was smiling at the scene and didn't seem to be disturbed at all. Behind him were the creepy throne and the four hooded figures.

Syaoran watched the little sprites' action while the Prophet greeted Hiiragizawa. They were busy getting the celebration drinks ready, this time they had brought drinks not from Japan but from Korea. The little water spirit was humming happily to itself as it started to uncork a nice, big bottle of soju.

_Oh HELL no…._Syaoran thought.

"_Ah, Ciel. It's a wonderful to see you again. The God is pleased with you and calls you to the duty you have promised to fulfill in your previous life," _the Prophet greeted Hiiragizawa from up on the creepy chair.

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Okay I think that the characters have started um…going outta character. But I must make it fit the story. Anything to make it fit the story. And now that ERIOL is in the story I can't kill him off anymore. snaps fingers Nah, nah I'm only playing…or am I?

……………….

I'M SO HAPPY THAT YOU GUYS REVIEWED! THANK YOU SO MUCH! XD I really got scared when no one reviewed at first. Lol, you guys are so POLITE! it makes ME feel, as Wolf Girl says, "an honor".

**Ryu Faiya**- I'm glad that you like Syaoran's character! He's the main star in this one, but of course…Sakura. What would a Cardcaptor Sakura fic be with out Cardcaptor Sakura? So we'll definitely be seeing quite a bit of Sakura-chan soon enough. No worriz :)

**Wolf Girl Contessa**- Hey if u ever need help with that email thing or whateverz i'm here, lemme kno! N Thank YOU for reviewing:D

**SilverWolf66**-hey hey, I HATE writing fight scenes. that one was fun, but the one i'm writing for chapter7-8 are MAJOR pains in the ass. Dialogue is easy, yeah. but action is hard TxT HEEEELP! n TY! i LIKE LOTR! XP

Everyone'll probably notice a lotta culture things blended into the story. Yeah…..I LIKE cultures and languages. LOVE em. Especially Asian cultures. So if anyone knows any good languages (interesting words…swear words HINT HINT) or interesting traditions teach me teach me! .

Foots-Grammatically wrong :P

Soju- distilled spirits. Korean liquor.

Ciel- French for 'sky'

Kami-sama- Japanese god, Kami.


	4. The Plan

It is time! Remember in the 2nd chapter when two guys were picking on Eriol and one of them was Tetsuya Nomura, one of the main programmers for Kingdom s.

Lol, no one really cared. That's okay!

------------------------------**Hidden Power: _Chapter 4...The Plan_**

Syaoran took a deep breath. _I'm ready. I'm going to do it this time. For real. _But he turned around and tried to step off the diving board. Okay he had made two steps. Now all he had to do was get past Eriol.

"As I mentioned before for the fifth…fifth time, was it ?"

"_Seventh!"_ the spirit chimed.

"Yes, seventh time, you need to actually GET IN the pool before we can start the assignment," he finished. Hiiragizawa Eriol seemed to have become more bold after he and Syaoran had become friends.

"E-Eriol-kun, if you d-don't g-g-get off the diving b-b….ACHOO! board…I'll kick you off m-myself!" Syaoran almost smiled and imagined himself shoving his buddy off the diving board and into the water to…

SPLASH! Syaoran yelled as the sky sprite (or Skye as Eriol had named him) dove into the water with a squeal.

"_Awwwww, is poo baby Syao-kun afwaid of the water?" _the water sprite called Aqua cooed.

"I-I'm NOT afraid of th-the w-water, It's C-C-C-COLD!" he attempted to swat at the giggling sprite but thought better of it when he almost lost his balance on the diving board.

"Basically he's afraid of the water," Eriol smiled and told the spirits who tittered gaily. Syaoran turned red with frustration.

Eriol, Syaoran, and the spirits had come to the pool at school for an assignment at 6 in the morning. _So damn early for this stupid assignment. _

They had to swim three laps around the pool for their P.E teacher as a consequence the other day. Sadly enough it was because Syaoran had accidentally pushed Eriol into the pool before class.

While Syaoran stared bleakly into the pool watching Skye kicking little rings of water as he went around the pool. _One lap…two lap…th….Frick, he's doing MY homework! _pause _Aw shit, he's gonna freeze the pool up._

Just when Syroaran held his breath and was ready to jump the fire spirit, or Pyro as they decided to name the spirit, said into Syaoran ear, "When do you plan to work on finding the next Guardian?" Syaoran frowned and abruptly let out a large breath of air.

"I'll work on it as soon as I finish this assignment!" he growled.

"Really…." the fire spirit remarked with a grin. Syaoran's eyes widened and he started to inch his way off the board when Pyro pushed him off saying, "Let me help you then Syaoran."

Syaoran spluttered and fell into the water. SPLASH! He surfaced and was swamped with cheering little spirits. "ARGH! IT'S F-F bleeeep ING COLD!" he yelled.

"Now Syaoran-kun watch your language. This is a PG-13 fic!" Eriol called down from the diving board. "Interesting how of all the words he seemed to emphasize the 'F-word' , " he remarked to himself before diving expertly off the board and entering the water with a small splash. The spirits lifted up cards with a 10.

Fifteen minutes later they were finished with their assignment and Syaoran was now extremely reluctant to get OUT of the water. Luckily someone helped him with that as the pool began to get EXTREMELY hot. Syaoran let out a yelp and was out of the pool faster than you can say 'Fire me up, Scotty'. Pyro grinned at Syaoran from in the pool, "Nothin' beats a nice fire!"

Syaoran grit his teeth, vein popping in annoyance, "I'll show YOU beat!" he started to walk forward when a giggle stopped him. He turned around to find a girl giggling at him.

"Wow, Li-kun I didn't know that you like polka dots," she remarked with her eyes twinkling. Syaoran looked down at his polka-dot boxers. Hey, he didn't think that Eriol was gonna drag him to school at 6 am in the morning to go swimming. Oh, the joy of the unexpected!

"They were the only swimming trunks he had, Daidouji-san," Eriol stepped out of the water grinning from ear to ear in his own blue trunks. Daidouji looked towards him and turned bright pink. She had on a violet swimsuit.

"I see," she murmured, "well they look nice on him!" _Somebody shoot me_, Syaoran groaned, absolutely mortified at being caught wearing polka dots. Daidouji-san started to laugh gaily at his reaction and then promptly dove into the pool to begin doing her homework. She too was in Syaoran and Eriol's swimming class.

"Ha-ha-ha. Your girlfriend's a riot, Eriol." Syaoran muttered under his breath after shooting a glare towards the swimming girl.

Later on, outside Eriol and Syaoran were talking over lunch. Syaoran munched on his sandwich while Eriol fed Skye (whose stomach seemed to be a bottomless pit) potato chips.

"You still haven't made any effort whatsoever to search for the next Guardian," Pyro said pointedly.

"I'm eating," Syaoran replied.

"I don't caaaare. If you don't the Prophet's gonna pull you offa earth again," the fire sprite shot back.

"Oh please, he freakin' BETTER not!"

"Oh yeah, you better BET he will," Pyro said calmly laying on his peanut butter and pickle sandwich.

Eriol sighed in exasperation and said, "Off! Off of the sandwich! Either eat it or give it to him," he pointed to Skye who had just polished off the potato chips and was walking through the bag looking for more. "He eats like Syaoran goes through toilet paper Syaoran shot his friend a dirty look and viciously bit his teddy graham's head off! And he isn't even finished yet."

"Well, if you DON'T take action, the Prophet _will_ take drastic measures and find someone to watch you. Like a guardian or two. Here, on earth," Gaia warned while hanging from the rim of the soup bowl.

"Don't fall in Gaia," Eriol warned.

"WHAT! NO WAY! He WOULDN'T! Can he DO that?" Syaoran cried eyes bulging. The Prophet dude was freaky and yeah, although he wouldn't admit it, the Prophet was the only person besides his mother he feared.

"He would! He has power and he isn't afraid to show it. He'll send a guardian if you don't do anything. Job has to get done. Chaos is coming," Skye burped.

"FINE!" Syaoran yelled. Everyone looked up and he glared. "I'll do SOMETHING about it."

There was no way that dude was gonna send some other dude to watch him. He had enough sprites on his plate and he definitely didn't want any more. Personal space, man and they got on his nerves. Not to mention the money it was costing him for potato chips, he thought eyeing Skye who lay next to the bag of chips patting his belly gingerly.

"Like what?" Eriol posed thoughtfully.

"Dya think that there'd be a guardian in this school?" he asked.

"It's worth a try. This could be the first place to look, though there's always a chance that the person might not be here in school today," Aqua said.

Syaoran thought…and thought hard. Then it hit him. Danger. He had to do an idea, but it wasn't a pretty one. It was definitely risky. And it would cost the school a couple hundred dollars. Heck, it might even get him and his fellow prisoners out of school for a while.

So he told Eriol and his friend did NOT look happy at all.

"THAT'S your big plan? It sounds dangerous."

"It sounds like a good idea to me. Risky, but that's what we need. Let's do it," Pryo said with a horrible grin and Syaoran agreed. Desperate times called for desperate measures. He had to say too, the threat of the world ending was nothing short of a desperate time.

They all sat in silence for a while thinking about what they were about to do. And then Syaoran nodded, "Okay. But I'm going to need your help," he told Eriol. And then he told him. Eriol concentrated and concentrated hard.

The clouds began to move and suddenly the sky darkened. Kids were looking up at the sky and suddenly everything was very quiet. Something really weird was going on. There was a sound of thunder and it seemed to shake the whole cafeteria, making the floor vibrate. Lighting flashed and then the lights in the cafeteria flicked out. Cries of protest broke out around the room and a teacher called for everyone to remain calm, that it was just the weather. Quite an understatement.

Eriol clenched his fist and Syaoran waited. Then suddenly his eyes flew open and he whispered one word.

"_Strike!"_

In the next moment the lightning hit the cafeteria, setting the building on fire.

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Wow, I've been stuck on this chapter for quite a while, but it came out pretty good! I gotta admit tho that it does drag on for a while. Sorry bout that. I didn't know how I was going to put Tomoyo in there. But I kept with the old story and it's okay.

**ffgirl-07- **bow Thank you SO much for the review! It was totally appreciated. I hope you can continue to enjoy the rest of my story too! J

**SilverWolf66**-DUDE! Where the hell have you been! Ive missed ur taunts! (how sad is that T.T) But ahhh I love u for reviewin! J Feel free to taunt me all u want! n although I DiD make Syaoran out to be a veggie he is a CUTE veggie:P

all girls who love Syaoran say EYE!

sorry I haven't been doing the martial arts all my life and don't know how to write fight scenes! Teach me n Ill shower u with…er..somethin'.

Anyway I'll leave it here and keep checkin for the next chapter. The whole story is finished and I have you all at my will! Heehehe ;P


	5. Getting Back Up

Alright, back to the story.

ahem I don't own CCS, btw…sadly. (;;)

----------------------------**Hidden Power: Chapter 5...**_ **Getting Up Again**_

As soon as the cafeteria caught fire everyone screamed and backed away from the window.

"Everyone run to the doors and DON'T PANIC!" a teacher instructed, trying to calm some 200 students down. Of course human instincts caused everyone to ignore him and immediately panic. The student body thus made a stampede for the exits. Something Syaoran couldn't have.

He stretched out two fingers and immediately all the exits caught fire as well. It started to spread rapidly bringing the students into a big pod at the center of the room, blocking off all hopes of escape. But it went no further.

Eriol looked at the panicked students, his face creasing with worry, "Syaoran, this isn't working. Nothing's happening."

"Just a little longer. Wait. I've got the fire, so it should be okay," Syaoran assured him.

"Un-leeeess someone has suicidal thoughts and decides to attempt escape," Aqua said thoughtfully.

"And then they'll go _poof!_" the earth sprite added.

As though suddenly realizing this Syaoran's eyes widened, "They freaking BETTER NOT! That fire is at least 13 feet! YOU IDIOTS BETTER NOT TRYING ANYTHING STUPID!" he yelled at the students just to be sure.

"Well…humans will be humans," Skye whispered rolling his eyes. "For their sake I hope that whoever is coming comes quickly before someone does something drastic."

"If…"

Suddenly there was a scream and an arc of what looked like a serpent slid into the ring of fire, dousing the flames. It was a water serpent. It thrashed to and fro slithering in a circle until all the flames were extinguished before crashing to the floor and becoming nothing more than a big puddle of water. Students ran for the exits as fast as they could leaving Daidouji Tomoyo, and a couple of other students who had also fainted in all the excitement, unconscious on the floor.

"Aw, crap," Syaoran cursed and followed Eriol who crouched on the floor trying to wake Daidouji up. The plan had been a total failure. All they had been left with was exactly what they had been trying to avoid. Someone who had gotten hurt.

"Daidouji-san! Daidouji-san! _Daijoubu desu ka!_"

Tomoyo opened her eyes just as they all heard the wails of sirens approaching. It was a little late for the fire department to come rushing in, Syaoran thought wryly.

Daidouji opened her eyes, "Hiiragizawa-kun? Is that you?"

"Are you okay! What happened?" Eriol's voice cracked. He was extremely freaked out, Syaoran noted. Maybe he had a crush on Daidouji.

"_Hai_. I-I think I just panicked. Nothing too serious. Is the fire gone? Is everyone safe?"

"Everyone's fine," Syaoran assured her from a distance.

She sighed with relief, "Good. I was afraid that we wouldn't make it out alive!" and then she lapsed back into unconsciousness. Eriol whimpered just as two men rushed in with a stretcher. They lifted the unconscious girl out of Eriol's lap and onto the stretcher assuring the boys that she would be okay.

As soon as they were out of ear-shot Syaoran dropped the act.

"HOW THE HELL ARE WE GOING TO DO THIS! HOW DOES THE PARFAIT ("Prophet!" the four spirits squealed simultaneously without notice) EXPECT US TO FIND 2 PEOPLE? THERE'S A WHOLE WORLD OUT THERE! THE CHANCES THAT THEY WOULD BE IN THIS SCHOOL ARE 1 TO ZIP!" he roared, furious.

"We tried, Syao," Gaia said.

"WELL WE FAILED! THAT STUPID PLAN WAS A TOTAL AND UTTER FAILURE!"

"We're just going to have to try again," Skye said quietly.

"How?" Eriol said sadly. "How do we pinpoint two people in the whole world? What if they aren't even in Japan?"

"Oh, they'll be in Japan alright. The strings of fate are will draw the Guardians together. They should be somewhere close by. If not, the Prophet would have sent us to another world."

"Another world? Sh-yeah right. This isn't the only world!" Syaoran said incredulously.

The four spirits nodded.

"Aw crap.."

Eriol sighed, "That doesn't mean that we're going to go prancing around the other world's just YET. We have to deal with our world first and see if a Guardian is in THIS world first," he said noting the intrigued look on Syaoran's face. Immediately his shoulders drooped and the little spirits' shoulders drooped as well, floating in a straight line, mimicking him behind his back.

"So what're we gonna do? Ho---YOW!" someone had plucked the back of his jeans near his butt and when he turned around he and Eriol were all alone in the weird world which the Prophet seemed to reside. The four spirits were nowhere in sight.

"_Pyro….what have you done so far to find the other Guardians? It has been more than two weeks. There is so much that must be done in so little time and yet, what action has been taken to find the next Guardian?" _the Prophet sounded very very disappointed. Against his will, Syaoran felt a twinge of shame.

"We're working on it, alright!" he shouted.

"Really_. What do you intend to do? How will you and Ciel find the next Guardian?"_

"We don't know how to find the next Guardian without putting lives in danger or how to know whether the person is the Guardian or not, but we're trying to figure it out!" Syaoran replied.

"We've already figured come to the decision that we should search our own world before going to search other worlds," Eriol added.

"_A wise decision, and yet one that need not have been made. The other two Guardians will be drawn to your world as it is Fate's doing," _the Prophet said and Syaoran thought he heard the thing smiling! Whatever the Parfait was…

"How do you expect us to find _two _people in this whole freakin world! They could be my next door NEIGHBORS and I'll traipse all the way over to Hawaii looking for them! AN: Shoots:D They _are _in Japan right? Or are they in another country? You're payin' for travel costs aren't you!"

"_They are. Fate has decreed it so. And my own servants will be there to aid you in your search."_

"We get servants? Who?" Eriol said sounding a little surprised.

"_You will find out when the time is right."_

At that very moment, everything within Syaoran's range of vision went black and he let out a yell. If it weren't for the giggling little lights (the spirits) flashing before Syaoran's eyes he would have thought that he was blindfolded or something...he was. And when the blindfold flew off he came face to face with a floating little boy who grinned at him impishly and said, "Surprise surprise! I'm your new best friend..."

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6 pages! Was that too much! More? -- I was seriously running outta ideas for this one to be honest. Tell me what you think...hint hint


	6. The Babysitter

Sorry it's taken me a while XD. For those of you who know me a little better I was grounded again since I didnt go to bed as early as I'd have liked to. hehehe...'

Yes! Yes! I have returned and so now I know what to write. Not a bad chapter, tho the next one will be…interesting.

----------------------------------**Hidden Power: Chapter 6..._The Babysitter_**

Hovering nearby the little sprites tittered gaily with each other while Eriol watched the dancing lights. They were back on Earth.

"New best friend, huh?" Syaoran said looking at the person who had blindfolded him. If it could be called a person…

The "person" looked to be male around the age of ten or so. He was rather tall with fluffy silver colored hair and what looked like a tail sprouting from his posterior. A tail…obviously this thing was not HUMAN. Of course he was floating half way off the ground, so that thought was further reinforced.

But his sense of fashion wasn't too bad, Syaoran noticed with interest.

He wore a blue half short sleeve blouse with a mandarin collar and elaborate frog buttons on his sleeves and also on slits of his knee high pants. Nope, no footware, apparently except for a solid gold anklet from which a round pendant dangled. Another, set of jewelry, Syaoran noticed was on his wrists…if manacles could be considered jewelry.

"Wha—," Syaoran stopped himself just in time as the 'new best friend' looked at him inquiringly with pink eyes, a big grin on his face. "WHO are you?" he finished.

"Here to watch _choo_," it replied as if it was obvious.

"We have a messenger?" he asked Eriol, who just shrugged '_I guess'. _"We have a messenger?" Syaoran asked Gaia who twittered, "Obviously."

"We don't need a messenger!" Pyro said to the new messenger, who just flipped up his tail and promply said, "It not my problem. Prophet say, 'I want to watch over the Guardians. Be sure that they get their work done!_ choo_' So I do."

The little water sprite tipped over and began to giggle madly as Syaoran put on a sour face. Great, they needed babysitters.

"Weeeell, this would not have happened if Syao-kun did his homework!" Skye chided.

"What do you mean MY homework! You're supposed to be helping me." And for a while they were all silent except for a few intermittent _choo_s as the new babysitter zoomed around a parked car.

"……………………."

"Well, maybe if we find the next (_choo) _Guardian this person will (_choo)_ leave," Eriol suggested.

"Whatever (_choo)_. I guess it's worth a shot ," Syaoran agreed.

"But what (_choo)_ do we do _(choo)_?" the sky spirit asked a little sleepily. A bag of potato chips will do that to you should you down enough of them. Should we just (_choo)—"_

"WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT?" Syaoran, Pyro, and Gaia roared at er…_Choo_ simultaneously, who promptly cut off his last _choo_ and plopped onto the car he had been zooming on, causing the alarm to go off.

_BWEE BWEE BWEE BWEE ARROOO ARROOO_

"Oh my gosh…" Syaoran groaned as Eriol struggled to hold onto to the legs of the two sprites who had attempted to fly at the now wailing babysitter.

"Hold on! Hold on!" Eriol cried.

"I'm gonna tear his wings off!" Pyro growled.

Eriol looked at the babysitter, "He doesn't HAVE wings Pyro-san!"

"Well, he won't be flying when I get through with him!" Gaia wiggled more desperately when the babysitter seemed to notice their efforts and rewarded them with a big raspberry.

"Knock it off!" Syaoran cried. "We need to find the next guardian as soon as possible."

"And how," gasped Pyro, "do you propose, gasp we do that?"

"I have an idea," the little sky spirit piped up and all heads turned. "I think we should trust the Hand."

"The Hand! Isn't that a gang?" Gaia asked a little wierded out.

"No." Skye shook his head and pointed to a nearby shop. "The Hand!"

The others looked to where he was pointing and noticed a little fortune telling shop.

"No way," Syaoran denied the plan flatly.

"You got a better idea?" Pyro shot Syaoran a withering glare.

Of course he didn't. The last plan he had had literally gone up in flames. Really, what else did he have to lose this time but his reputation? Come on, that's not too bad.

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Well, a minor cliffhanger (if you can call that a cliffhanger, lol).

So tell me what you think of the babysitter. Yeah, he has a name, but I haven't told you yet. Yeah, he is annoying as HELL. That's the whole point. Some people might ask me what the HECK is _choo_?

Babysitter: I _choo_. Is me me!

It's his identity. It's just a part of who he is, which will remain a secret for now. Though there is a reason. Be it a stupid one? We'll see.

_S-h-O-U-t:_

**Ryu-Faiya:**Ne, ne komapda! (im so sick of repeating 'thank you' but i am grateful. just to be different...its in Korean.) Your praise rocks cuz u make it so fun!

**Little Rose: **Thank you! I guess I was just looking for a little more character from Syaoran. He does talk like he doesn't care but that's just him being rough around the edges. I think it's kind of cute, lol. But I don't understand what you meant about the sprites...? (scratches head nervously :'o ) _Gomen_, I can be kinna slow sometimes.

**Anime flower:** Thanks hahahaha! They're like cute/pain in the butts for Syaoran. :)

**Alice 19th:** (notices a little repitition and sighes. Smile) You have my gratitudefor so many nice compliments. Though you're not the first to wonder where the hell Sakura is. Don't worry she'll come soon enough. To be honest with you all, when first drew out the summary for the fic I was planning for Sakura to come in at the VERY end of this story. The original story is actually a series, but I didn't think I would be able to keep UP with you all and squeezed everything into one fic. Which brings me to another topic.

Everyone who's been keeping up with my blab sections will probably know that this story is oooold. I wrote it a long time ago, so this fic is a re-run. I've tried to write it before on Mediaminer but it never worked out. It's gone through a lot of changes throughout the years. For those of you who want to know about these changes you can check out my homepage when I put them up (IF i do). Does anyone want to know? Ne1 care or would it just be a waste of space? lol

Well, please watch for my next chapter which I will post up soon enough. :) Thank you to everyone who's been with me this whole time and thanks for reading my story! Til next time...Ja ne!

Foots:

Frog buttons- He wore a blue half short sleeve blouse with a mandarin collar and elaborate frog buttons on his sleeves

n. pl. Elaborate ancient Chinese knotting which the Chinese use to tie their robes shut as well as for decorative purposes. (Yeah, the Chinese buttons you see on the kung fu outfits.)

Raspberry- … the babysitter seemed to notice their efforts and rewarded them with a big raspberry.

n. Slang for sticking out our tongue and blowing. (Some people have given me a few raised eyebrows so that's why it's a footnote.)


	7. Running Out of Time

Well here we go people!

And once again I must remind the world (I did have one guy from a book company call me up one time asking for me….FYI: I told him I wasn't here. I have reason to believe he was after me, n it's not because he loves my stories.) that CLAMP IS NOT MY OWN! Tho I wish…

---------------------Hidden Power: _Chapter 7-Running out of Time_

It was a good thing that Syaoran did not really have much to lose by going into a cheesy fortune telling shop. Because he was hightailing it out of the shop within 10 minutes. Eriol was behind him laughing.

"SAD! That was SAD!" Syaoran cried.

Eriol chuckled, "Well, to be honest I didn't really expect much myself. I'll admit that I don't believe in divination at all."

Gaia came out of the shop frowning deeply, "What a fake. How disappointing. I thought for sure she would help us when she said that there was a spirit in the room."

"Obviously Skye has good ears, because he dove into her turban and found them," Aqua laughed and Skye turned pink.

Eriol opened his mouth to say something until he noticed something odd.

The bell to the fortune-teller's shop had begun to quiver. The odd thing was that the door was closed. The so-called fortune teller was obviously making a last attempt to convince them of her spiritual powers (which she did not have). But he knew that couldn't be true when the bell started to ring more furiously and a waiter in the café nearby screamed as the cart she was pushing along toppled over on its own accord. In a yard nearby a dog began to bark frantically. Then the truth dawned on him and he cried out a warning.

"EARTHQUAKE!"

Instantly things got worse as people panicked and everyone started screaming. The ground began to shake and tables in the café toppled over. Alarms of parked cars starting to go off around the street went unheeded as people rushed into buildings for safety. The fortuneteller who had previously proven herself to be a fake came out of her shop screaming at the top of her lungs about the end of the world. Syaoran ignored her and followed Eriol into the woman's shop under the desk.

Finally after what seemed like hours the earthquake died down and Skye stopped trembling from within Eriol's hood.

"This is not good," Gaia clenched Eriol's glasses, her eyes clouded with worry.

"What's going on? It's just an earthquake. Not that I liked being caught in the middle of it," Syaoran muttered.

"It's getting worse. Time is running out and Chaos is getting closer. That's why we had an earthquake."

"You're kidding me! We get earthquakes here in Japan. Shit happens," Syaoran pointed out.

"You won't be saying that when it starts raining ice! I wasn't the same for weeks," Aqua retorted. A/N: Aqua is water remember? Water and ice always stick or something similar, don't they?

"It's CALLED hail," Skye jabbed his little sleeve at the..erm…sky.

"Well, whatever happens we have to find the others," Eriol said. "Clearly we're running in circles here as time is running out."

"All I want to know is how are we going to find the next Guardian?" Pyro sighed.

The annoying babysitter (who had turned tail and disappeared during the earthquake) chose that specific moment to appear again and press his nose into Pyro's face. Much to his misfortune, Pyro was more than happy to burn it and flared up immediately.

"Owwwwww choo! Have plan! Have idea!" he wailed forlornly crossing his eyes in an effort to nurse his nose.

"Oh please, like YOU have something that might work!" Gaia said dryly.

"You have plan, choo?" the babysitter glared reproachfully, his nose very red indeed. No one had a retort to that one.

"No," Syaoran admitted with a sigh. "What do you have?"

"Nose!" the babysitter frowned and pointed to his scorched nose.

"Didn't think so," Syaoran muttered sounding a little disappointed. "We don't have the time for this."

"No! choo! Smell! I smell Guardian!"

"…………oo……………."

"No way," Eriol breathed.

"He's bluffing," Aqua said as the babysitter took off down the street with his nose to the ground. Apparently if it was possible, he'd caught onto the scent. Whether he was fooling around again they didn't know, but they really had nothing to lose by following him.

Eriol was about to protest when suddenly someone screamed from not too far off. His heart thudding rapidly he followed the babysitter around the corner.

Syaoran cried out to see a giant bundle of vines wrapped around someone stuggling to get free. On the side a young girl with long brown hair tied into a ponytail wearing a sort of red and orange kimono tied in the most complex way stood with her hand splayed before her, annoyance creasing her face.

"I want an answer! Where are the other three gua—" the girl stopped abruptly when she saw Syaoran and Eriol.

"Nevermind. It looks like they finally found you themselves." Her captive struggled and gave cries of warning most heartily.

"Welcome Guardians," she greeted them with the enthusiasm of a preppy teenager. "I am Kotoko." And without further ado a torrent of vines rose into the air and rushed to meet them.

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It was a short chapter, but I had problems with separation so I thought it might be a good idea to dedicate the next chapter mostly to the struggle that will take place. And for all the people getting sick and tired of me referring to that…er…annoying person/thing as 'the babysitter' don't worry. He'll definitely be named soon.

Hey hey! I have to cry out! I'm really enjoying myself here.

Everything is going so good. I'm finally getting somewhere with this story after YEARS of trying to write it again and again, I think I finally did it at the right time!

I have actually written the next few chapters but I've been very unfortunate to lose it on my computer, which has a virus (I'm on the laptop right now). Give me a while to get it back okay? Thank you every one who is still reading this and who has waited so patiently.

Well, please please review review! I'd love to see my email bombarded by the likes of you reviewers/flamers. Feedback it the best thing!


	8. Torrents of Trouble

YOOOOHOOOOO! I actually MADE it to chapter 8! I NEVER can make it to Chapter 8. Not usually. Tho that might imply that I'm on something. Maybe I am, cuz I am on FIRE! Well, that's how I feel right now Hopefully I can keep this up and make it to the end. Reviews will of course urge me on for all u eager readers!

Plus, I have to say thank you for continuing to read. Thanks for waiting! It didn't take me as long as I thought it would to transfer files between computers. Thank GOD.

And so the beat goes on…….

--------------------------------**Hidden Power: Chapter 8…_Torrents of Trouble_**

"My name is Kotoko," the girl introduced herself before sending a torrent of vines into the air at Eriol and Syaoran. Both boys rolled away to dodge them.

"What do you want!" Syaoran yelled as a vine whizzed past his ear.

The girl grinned, "I've been sent to get the Guardians. You are those Guardians aren't you? You don't seem to freaked out to have vines thrown at you. So I'm assuming you're them," and a vine shot out at Syaoran as if to prove it.

Syaoran jerked his head a little and the vine was immediately reduced to a harmless pile of cinder, "Yeah I am," he admitted.

Meanwhile Eriol had started to make his way to Kotoko's captive. He had just about reached the wiggling mass when a vine lashed out.

Pyro called out, "ERIOL-SAMA! ABUNAI!"

Eriol gasped softly and stepped back. A powerful gust of wind immediately changed the vine's path so that it veered away. Not really believing himself to be out of trouble, Eriol stepped forward to help the unknown captive only to have the vines grip his wrists. Grunting Eriol struggled in its grasp desperately. It held firm and continued to wind itself around his body, and worst of all, his windpipe. For a moment he went limp and Gaia cried out, "ERIOL-SAMA!"

Syaoran looked towards the desperate cry and his eyes widened in fear, "Eriol!" A vine whipped past and struck him across the face, causing Syaoran to look back at Kotoko.

"Eyes on me!" she commanded. Syaoran grit his teeth and surged forward.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment and Syaoran feared the worst. Just how badly had Eriol gotten hurt? Suddenly, Eriol's eyes and he croaked, "_Go"._

An electric charge swept through the vines holding him captive and into its roots zapping Kotoko instantly who screamed in surprise. The vines went limp releasing Eriol and he immediately went back to setting the captured person free.

Kotoko gasped in pain and held her hand gingerly. "OWW!"

Eriol tugged at the vines twisted around the person in vain.

"PYRO!" Eriol cried at the sprite who immediately winked besides him.

"Hai."

"Burn the vines! Get rid of them! Do something," Eriol commanded the sprite, but this was something that the spirit of fire just couldn't afford to do.

Torching the vines would only serve to barbeque its victim and Pyro told Eriol this much. And besides, Syaoran was busy at the moment. But this person needed help NOW! The young man grit his teeth in frustration. He really did not know what else to do. Syaoran had the power of fire, and he Eriol had the power of sky. What could either of them possibly do that would not harm the person within that…that...cocoon thing? It seemed pathetically hopeless.

"_Move,_" a voice told him. Eriol looked up. Their bab—okay okay Choo, (we'll call that him that for now) was looking at him, an ever-so-serious look on his face. If Eriol was surprised he didn't show it and immediately stepped aside, not knowing what to expect. It seemed as though all thought had left his mind. He was that freaked out.

The person who had once been the immature babysitter narrowed his eyes at the clump of leaves for a second and just stood there breathing deeply. Eriol was about to protest when the boy let out a cry. He spun a complete 360 degrees and lashed out at the bundle. Before Eriol knew it the Guardian had fallen into him and he fell backwards in shock.

"What…" he gasped.

Kotoko looked up suddenly and caught the flame of fire that Syaoran had thrown at her on her shoulder.

"NO!" she screamed in fury when she saw that her captor had been freed from his bonds. She grit her teeth in frustration.

"That's not SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! NO FAIR NO FAIR!" with a final scream she vanished into thin air. Syaoran fell to the ground in mid-tackle. Grumbling he got up and looked to the side where the so-called baby sitter stood watching silently, for once.

"YOU released the Guardian?" he said in surprise.

The young man grinned mischievously, his tail twitching interestingly. "You don't think the Prophet had his reasons for sending me? He did," he drawled in perfect Japanese. Gaia and Skye cocked their heads. The "baby sitter" wasn't as stupid as he made himself out to be. Shocker there.

Then Syaoran turned his head to the supposed Guardian crouched at Eriol's side, grimacing in pain and trying to rub the feeling back into his limbs.

"What the hell? Who are YOU! And why do you look like…?" he exclaimed completely floored.

It was a boy who looked to be around the age of 13 or 14. Neither Eriol or Syaoran knew what to make of it. Because it was no shock that they didn't know him. It was a big world. What WAS a shock was that the Guardian in question was a mini version of Hiiragizawa Eriol.

"Who are you?" Eriol asked the boy. "A-are you the Guardian of Water?"

The boy stared at Eriol, with the oddest look in his eye. For a moment he didn't say anything. Then he snapped out of it, "Guardi…? Ah, no."

Then he looked at Eriol specifically. "Um…actually my name is Gabriel. I'm…I'm your son."

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I made a big decision just now to end it here. Sorry for the humongous cliffhanger. I'll be sure to post up the next chapter for you all ASAP! I've already started the next chapter and I'm half way to the end so hopefully the next chapter will be out by next weekend. So it won't be too far off! Til then, ja ne!


	9. Surprises Unforseen

Wow, chapter 9! Yknow I've never written this many chapters before! Shocking…very shocking. **(shrug) **or maybe it's not for all you wonder-writers out there just blinking. Whatever. Read on and please enjoy!

--------------------------------**Hidden Power: Chapter 9…_Surprises Unforeseen_**

"Who are you?" Eriol asked the boy. "A-are you the Guardian of Water?"

The boy stared at Eriol, with the oddest look in his eye. For a moment he didn't say anything. Then he snapped out of it, "Guardi…? Ah, no."

Then he looked at Eriol specifically. "Um…actually my name is Gabriel. I'm…I'm your son."

At first no one said anything. It seemed as though they were afraid to talk. Eriol looked at Syaoran wildly as though hoping that he'd bust out laughing and proclaim, 'April Fools!' Syaoran shook his head and stepped back, uncertain of what to do.

"Don't look at me! He's YOUR son, isn't he?"

Eriol looked back at Gabriel, "You CAN'T be my son. I've never…I've never been with a girl before!" he finished turning a bright shade of pink.

"Oh, really?" Pyro smiled mischievously. Eriol wanted to shoot the little sprite out of the sky.

"Really. I could not have possibly produced this boy standing in front of me. How old are you, Gabriel?"

"I'm 13," he said with a smile. "And you haven't had a girlfriend _yet_, because I'm from the future, so I'm not your son YET. But I _am_ your son," he added.

"WHAT?" Syaoran said blankly. You have a boy in the future? With whom, can I ask?" a grin was spreading on his face.

Gabriel opened his mouth to answer and Eriol stopped him, "No, you cannot, I don't want to know!" he spit out all at once. Gaia and Aquia both resolved into a fit of giggles and Eriol glowered at them both.

"Weeeell, looks like you're not as stupid as you look," Gaia said loudly pointing to the once-annoying babysitter who was sitting on the ground. "That was pretty cool was you did back there," she complimented him with a smile on her face. Obviously she had a newfound respect for him.

The youth looked up at her from where he was attempting to squash some ants with the flat of his dagger and smiled broadly, as though sensing this.

"I was kind of shocked, too," Eriol admitted. He seemed to be very relieved that the focus had suddenly shifted away from the mystery woman who would possibly bear his child. "I had no idea that you could actually prove to be useful. But then again I don't think that the Prophet would have sent you to watch over us without a very good reason."

"I good! _choo!"_ he declared proudly and flew at the 4 sprou—sprites.

"So what are you doing here?" Skye asked curiously, bringing the attention back to Gabriel.

"I'm supposed to find someone. But I can't tell you who yet."

"Then how do we know to trust you?" Gaia demanded.

"Well, he _does_ have your looks, Eriol," Syaoran remarked Pyro muttered under his breath, "Thank you Captain Obvious," Eriol looked momentarily pained when Syaoran added, "I wonder who is the mother of your child?"

It seemed as if the conversation were going in circles so Pyro decided to point out, "Are you the Guardian of Water or what?"

"Nuh-uh. I'm not. But…"

"I am," a voice declared from the mouth of the alley.

Syaoran, Eriol, Gabriel, and the four spirits turned to look who had spoken and Eriol gaped in obvious surprise. The Guardian had been right beneath their nose the whole time!

"D-Daidouji-san!" he cried. "_You_ are the Guardian of Water?"

"I suppose so. I seem to have the power of water, if that's what it is. I think that fire that happened at the school helped me to realize it," Tomoyo Daidouji admitted. "See?"

Tomoyo's hair, which lay hanging down her back, seemed to take a life of its own as she lifted up her palm. A little sphere of water bubbled above her palms and then it opened to reveal a tiny fairy. Skye moved up close to the little fairy. When it collapsed into nothing he gave a little squeak of surprise and flew into the other sprites, immediately causing them to flare up in defense.

Gabriel laughed softly and Daidouji gave him a kind smile. The boy flushed pink and Eriol frowned looking from Daidouji to his supposed-son. Did Gabriel have a crush on Daidouji-san? He didn't even know her!

"Soooo, we've found the Guardian of Water. Now what?"

The air turned very cold and as you might guess the figure on the throne sat before them once again. Much to his surprise Syaoran noticed that there were no longer 4 hooded figures, but three. The red and light blue hooded figures seemed to have disappeared altogether.

Tomoyo, who seemed quite ready for this immediately, sank into a graceful curtsy.

"_Lady Cordelia, greetings. I see you have your memory," _there was definitely pleasure in the Prophet's voice.

Syaoran found himself wondering whether the Prophet looked anything human. Whether it was female or male. It presently sounded like a male, but there really was no judging as the tone of its voice changed with time.

"Yes, your lordship I have regained my memory as you have said and inquire your well-being."

Syaoran raised an eyebrow. Wow, she was pretty damn sure of herself, he thought. Why didn't the rest of them have their memory back too?

"_I am well pleased with you and your fellow Guardians. Your Chooser has indeed made progress and I am very glad." _This raised a smug look from Syaroran and Pyro grinned, "Yeah, though he had PLENTY of help." Syaoran proceeded to swat at the giggling spirit and missed altogether.

"_And you..Hiiragizawa Gabriel, this IS a surprise,"_ the Prophet ignored Syaoran's attempts to climb atop the pillar nearby and continued on.

"Shut up you little ball of gas! I haven't been doing NOTHING!" Syaoran growled as he stretched his fingers out to Pyro, inching himself higher up on the pillar. The little fire spirit grinned horribly.

For a moment Skye had a bad feeling and almost opened his mouth to say so, but stopped when Gaia nudged him. She was obviously looking for a good show.

"So this kid… he's really my child?" Eriol gulped. Daidouji frowned.

There were little squeals of glee when both Syaoran and the pillar fell with a thud. The hooded figure in white and black stared down into the mist hovering over the ground where Syaoran obviously lay.

"You have a kid? Come to think of it he _does_ look like you," she said sounding a little disappointed.

"_He is. Although why he is here I cannot say,"_ the Prophet was either unsure or just unwilling to tell. Syaoran had a feeling that the Parfeit was not letting on as much as he knew, but gave it the benefit of the doubt (He seemed to have recovered from his fall and was now laying against the fallen pillar).

"_What you will say when the time comes will be up to you, Hiiragizawa-san and only you."_

A soft smile touched Gabriel's lips and for a moment, something stirred in the corner of Eriol's mind. He somehow recognized that smile, but could not place it.

"_However what concerns me the most is the coming of the last Guardian."_

"I think you're right. To find the Guardian of the Earth and Stars might be harder than finding the previous three Guardians has been. Especially since Chaos' cohorts are advancing on us."

"Chaos' cohorts? That's what you call that girl who attacked us? Kotoko was a cohort of Chaos?" Syaoran asked incredulously. If that was true, then Chaos was closer than he had thought and he needed to get cracking.

Speaking of getting closer, nothing seemed to confirm that statement more than what happened next. Eriol and Syaoran never thought that Chaos would be able to touch them with the Prophet nearby, but was surprised when the ground suddenly started to quake.

Horrible screams of agony filled the air and pillars fell over. As the sky began to flash ominously images of people screaming appeared. Syaoran heard very clearly a girl crying out his name. The image of the emerald-eyed girl he had first seen when he met the Prophet briefly flashed into his mind. Only this time, she was no longer smiling at him. She was crying.

Emboldened, he leaped to his feet and covered the floating sprites with his body. Chaos could not, must not, know about the little sprites, Syaoran found himself thinking.

Abruptly the Prophet stood up from its throne and Syaoran saw that it was not very tall at all. With just a point of his finger the grounded stopped shaking.

Shadowy figures leapt from behind the evil-looking throne and soared swiftly into the air. Oddly enough, Syaoran was quite sure that these were angels and that they looked nothing like the beautiful figurines with white wings that he had always admired on his mother's vanity. These angels were not heavenly women with dove soft wings. They were almost the exact opposite. They were translucent and dark and beautiful with wings that were not clearly defined. What sex they were, Syaoran couldn't make out.

And then as quickly as the screams began they stopped. Syaoran was finally able to take his hands away from his ears and when he looked around he saw Eriol flinch away from Daidouji-san, whom he had been instinctively protected.

With a sigh the Prophet sank back onto the throne and dropped his head into his hands, a gesture of weariness.

"_Time is running out for us, as you can all very well see. We must find the final Guardian. Obviously it is the last thing that Chaos would want and they will do all in their power to prevent you from telling him or her the truth."_

"Why? What is it about the last Guardian that's set them off so much?" Eriol asked.

"_This last Guardian alone has the power that not even God himself has. He or she has the power to unleash Salvation. The power to push Chaos back," _the Prophet said finally.

For a while nobody said anything. Daidouji seemed to be waiting for their reaction, Gabriel stood by expectantly. Eriol felt as though his son…that was weird…. might already know all of this.

"So…this person. This person has the power to end all this?" Syaoran started. The idea that one person might hold such power was unnerving. He sincerely felt bad for the Guardian (whoever he or she was).

"_Yes. He/she has the power to push back Chaos and prevent our destruction, not to end it once and for all. Chaos is evil, and we will never be rid of evil forever. Unfortunately, sin already flows through our veins. For those of us who have veins," _it added in the spirits' direction.

"Fun-neeh," Aquia muttered.

"So we're just doing this to seal Chaos temporarily?" Syaoran asked.

"_Unfortunately that is pretty much all we can hope for now. That is why you are the Seeker and a Guardian. You promised to protect the world from Chaos for all time," _the Prophet reminded him.

"I DID? WHEN!"

"_You would not remember. Lady Cordelia was given the privelage to keep her memory and seek you out when the time was right so that she might show you the promise you once made."_

"Okay, I'll accept that for now, but what if I die? How will I protect earth from Chaos then?" Syaoran was utterly confused.

"_You are a Guardian. You will reincarnate into history again and again to protect what you swore to. I too have sworn to guide you for eternity. And for that we will always be in debt to all four of you."_

_-----------------------------------------------------------_

Basically I figured that I owed you guys an explanation for what was going on, so there it is. That's the story. Some of it is a little cryptic and there's a little more to it, but I've pretty much laid it out for you. All that's left is to see what will happen. I loved writing this chapter. I'm sorry it was a little late, but there you have it!

3 Ana-malia


	10. Kinomoto Sakura

I'm so getting into it. Please, take a look at the Review Shout-outs for some good dirt on the characters in the story that I will probably never mention in the story itself if you are interested!

O yah, disclaimer, since I've not done it for a long time: _I don't own CCS wails, though can't really say that I have not plotted to bargain CLAMP for it._

And now we continue! The moment that pretty much EVERYONE has been waiting for! Read! Enjoy! Review!

--------------------------------**Hidden Power: Chapter 10…_Kinomoto Sakura_**

The next morning Syaoran surged out of bed, his heart thumping. He was a little disappointed to have woken up soon. He had been dreaming about that girl with the emerald eyes that kept calling out to him. With a sigh, he hauled himself out of bed, his mind roaming as he pulled a green t-shirt over his head. The color of her eyes….

_Both he and the girl were laying in the grass beside a pond underneath a tree. She laughed out loud when he rolled over to her side and poked a finger into her ribs. Then she rolled over onto her side and grabbed his hand._

"_Pyro."_

"_Hm?" Syaoran saw himself roll on his side to give her what he saw was a fuzzy smile. _

"_Promise that you'll never forget me?"_

"_What kinna stupid question is that? Do you think you're going somewhere?"_

_She twirled a forget-me-not flower in her fingers thinking about it, "No. Just promise me that no matter what happens tomorrow you won't forget me, okay?"_

_For a while he didn't say anything. He seemed to be stunned. The girl looked up at him to see what he might be thinking and he turned away. She whopped him on the head._

"_ARGH!" he looked back at her._

"_I'll beat you up, if you don't!" she threatened, holding out a tiny fist._

"_Okay."_

"_Promise?" she asked him. Cherry blossom petals flew through the wind and he reached over to grab a petal that had gotten stuck in her hair. _

"_Yes, I promise to never forget you for as long as I live…" _

"Syao-Syao-kun snap outta it!" his sister Futti snapped her finger in his face and he jolted back to reality, a piece of toast in one hand.

"Er…y-yeah," he shook his head. It was gonna be a looong day.

Later on at school, Syaoran groaned in frustration and depression, head down on his desk. bang bang bang went his head as he let it land on the desk. How could this possibly happen? It was bad enough that he had to save the world from Chaos and find the Guardian who would be the only hope for Salvation. And now _this_?

"Syaoran, it's not as bad as you might think!" Daidouji Tomoyo said sympathetically as she watched him drop his head over and over on the top of his desk.

("Five braincells left…four braincells left….three braincells left…." Skye counted softly.)

"It's just a school dance, that's all," Eriol added.

(Gaia burst out giggling.)

"Yeaaah, JUST a school dance. I feel bad for you Uncle Syao. What girl do you plan on going with, hm?" Gabriel grinned mischievously beside him, having transferred into their class the week after his arrival. He was currently living with his father, as Eriol lived alone with his two Guardians. Gabriel knew for a fact that Syaoran was a shy person and love to push his uncle's buttons.

("-3 braincells left….-4 braincells left….-5 braincells left…")

"That's a freaking understatement, if I ever heard one before," Syaoran muttered darkly. "School dances are optional. This ISN'T! And _no_ Pyro, you CAN'T set fire to the bear's skirt!"

(Pyro had been staring eerily at the flowery skirt of the teacher's Christmas bear, which was sitting on her desk, its glassy eyes staring ahead at them blankly. "That's the ugliest skirt I've ever seen," Pyro whispered.)

"Who's Pyro, Li?" a girl with long black hair rapped Syaoran sharply in the back of the head. Syaoran gave her a look of total annoyance and ignored her until she moved to stand in front of him.

(Gaia suddenly deflated, absolutely exhausted with laughing.)

She was a very tall girl, dressed entirely in black. She was every bit what you might call goth.

"I don't think that you heard me Li Syaoran. I _was_ actually talking to you," she whispered leaning down to his level and he frowned.

"Get the hell outta my face Takana," he pointed a finger in his face.

Takana Emma smirked at the finger and made a move to bite it off. Syaoran withdrew it, not looking to lose any digits.

"I wanted to ask you who you would be going to the dance with," she said matter-of-factly.

However the teacher chose that moment to interrupt her and Emma stalked off, rolling her eyes.

(A/N: And now the moment that everyone's been crying out for, also a very common occurrence in many fics. It annoys me to be following the trend of what may happen next.)

"Class, today we have a new transfer student. Please welcome her today. Come in."

A young lady stuck her head into the classroom, and after a pause, she stepped in.

She was tall, and quite willowy, with red hair and big blue eyes. She seemed to be very nervous. Her eyes searched the classroom nervously. The new transfer student was either an American or someone from Europe, Syaoran thought.

"Er…T-Tanaka-sensei?"

Tanaka-sensei nodded, "This is Walker Emi. Welcome her to the class."

(Haha, just joke!)

And without further ado the door slid open to admit the actual transfer student: a petite girl with short auburn hair.

The red-haired girl stepped up to help the auburn-haired girl into the classroom. She shook her head, "I'm sure I can find my way. Thank you." And without another word, she took out a long and thin-looking white pole. With her eyes closed, she touched alum walking stick to the floor gently, and made her way to the front of the classroom. She was blind, Syaoran realized with a shock.

"I would like to introduce to you all, Kinomoto Sakura. She is our new student. As you can all see Kino..."

"_Ano…_Sakura. Please call me Sakura," the girl interrupted timidly. And then she opened her eyes and gave the teacher an apologetic smile.

Syaoran gaped. It was definitely HER! Sakura's eyes were the most beautiful emerald green eyes he had ever seen. It was the same girl that he had been dreaming about, if that were cliché enough.

The teacher seemed taken back a bit before a smile lit her own face.

"Thank you. As you can see Sakura is blind. Walker Emi is here to assist Sakura. I would like to ask that you help her as much as possible when needed," the teacher introduced.

"_Domo arigatou minna-san._ I will work hard and do all that I can do. I hope we can be good friends!" she said and bowed low.

"Please take a seat Kino—Sakura-san. Hmm," and she scanned the room before noticing an empty seat. "The seat next to Li-kun is open." Sakura's assistant, Walker, wasted no time in directing Sakura to the seat that the teacher pointed out.

As Sakura sat down in the seat across from him, boys all around the room were shooting him glares of envy. Glares which Syaoran happily returned. She waited until class started up again before turning to Syaoran.

"_Ohayo gozaimasu,_" she greeted.

Surprised, he didn't respond. Her smile never wavered as she waited.

"_Ohayo gozaimasu, _Li-kun," Sakura tried again.

Still no reply. Gabriel, who had been watching from behind Syaoran rolled his eyes. Syaoran was either shy or stubborn.

"Hi! I'm Hiiragizawa Gabriel!" he held out his hand for Sakura. Hearing his voice, she turned around to face him. Forgetting that she couldn't see, he let out a soft, "Oh!" and attempted to withdraw his hand. However her reflexes were startlingly quick for someone who was blind. She grabbed his hand with a warm smile and shook it.

"_Ohayo gozaimasu_, Hiiragizawa Gabriel. My name is Kinomoto Sakura."

"So I've heard. Wow, you've got fast reflexes!"

"_O-ohayo gozaimasu…Kinomoto_-_san,"_ Syaoran whispered softly, facing away from her. But she heard him just fine.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Li-kun," she turned to him and smiled.

Later on at lunch Syaoran was unusually quiet. It wasn't too hard to miss.

"Are you going to eat that snow-wich?" Skye asked Syaoran when he saw that Syaoran was zoning out again.

"It's called a SANDwich, Skye," Aquia piped up.

"Are you going to eat that SANDwich, Syao-kun?" Skye repeated. When Syaoran didn't reply, he proceeded to drag the sandwich across the table (which was quite a feat since the sandwich was bigger than he was) where Eriol and Gabriel sat bickering in a most civil manner about monkeys and marshmallows (don't ask…--).

Tomoyo looked at Syaoran, a little concerned, "Syaoran, are you okay?"

"I think Syao-kun _likes_ Kinomoto-san," Aquia cooed twirling a tiny finger in the little puddle of soup that Tomoyo had provided her.

"No. It's not that. I've…I've seen her before," Syaoran admitted turning a little red.

"In your dreams, right?" Gabriel said with a smile, ignoring Eriol, who had been making his argument at the moment. Annoyed, his father proceeded to chide his son and Gabriel sighed.

"Actua—," Syaoran was then cut off by a coarse laugh. He turned around behind him to see Takana Emma laughing at something that Sakura had said.

The girl was sitting by herself. Many of the students had been too shy to talk to her, and even her assistant had managed to find friends to talk to. But it seemed Sakura had managed to get around the cafeteria and get a plate to eat just fine.

"Are you kidding me?" Emma laughed scornfully. She was leaning across the table pointing at Sakura.

"You're too nice. You've got something up your sleeve, don't you Sakura. I have a feeling that you being such a doll to Syaoran wasn't just courtesy. What're you planning, hm? Going to ask him out to the school dance?"

"There's a school dance? When is it?" Sakura asked, her eyes widening in excitement. She took no notice of the tension that was in the air as people turned to watch what was going on.

"I'm not your damn secretary! Why don't you read the school bulletins…oh wait. You're blind, right? _My_ bad," Emma snorted, obviously not sorry at all. I forgot that you can't read". There were murmurs of outrage and disapproval from around the cafeteria. Neither Emma nor Sakura took any notice.

Emma, however moved closer to watch Sakura closely as she proceeded to deposit a few, large, slimy, and squirming earthworms into Sakura's lunch plate. There were many people around the cafeteria who let out cries of revulsion.

Sakura seemed to not take notice and ignored the insults. She merely smiled, "So there IS a school dance! That might be fun. Though I don't have anyone to go with. Do you know someone that might be interested in going with me?" she picked up her fork and was about to scoop up a little rice when a girl nearby squealed in disgust. Sakura paused and Emma shot a dirty look to the nauseous girl.

"No. Do I look like Cupid to you, you stupid bitch?" Actually it seemed as though Emma were ready to sprout horns any moment soon.

"I thought you just told me that I was blind," Sakura pointed out. And with a smile, she plucked the squirming worm out of her plate and flicked the poor creature at Emma, who frowned.

"You're such a fricking smart ass, Kinomoto. Shut the hell up. I'm warning you for the last time. Stay away from my man!" she yelled and grabbed Sakura's shirt, probably to shake her for emphasis.

She didn't get very far. Waves of fury rolled off of him as Syaoran chose that moment to surge up from his seat and pry Emma off of Sakura.

"GET THE HELL OFF OF HER, DAMMIT!" he roared. "I've NEVER been your man, so I don't know what you're TALKING about! I see you every day but I never say one fricking word to you!"

Surprised with his outburst, Emma backed off. For a while no one moved. Then Emma flew at Syaoran with a cry of frustration.

Instinctively, Syaoran grabbed Emma's arm and used her momentum against her. She totally missed him. Li Syaoran was one of the school's best fighters. However, Takana Emma was certainly no pushover.

While it was true that she had flown straight past Syaoran, she did not falter. Without missing a beat, she had swiveled around and then wound up and landed a punch right on Syaoran's cheek. The blow caught him off guard and he twisted around with the impact to land backwards. Using the tip of his fingers he propelled himself back into the fight, a look of fire, blazing in his eyes.

Sakura took that moment to jump up and lunge at Syaoran to hold him back. It seemed as if everyone was flying at everyone that day.

"No! No! I'm fine!" she assured Syaoran, her arms wrapped firmly around his torso in an effort to avoid any more scrapping (if you would), "T-Thank you!"

"She was ready to freaking JUMP you, Kinomoto!" he cried.

"But she didn't! Thanks to you. I just want to eat my lunch in peace."

"Then why the heck are you sitting alone!" he asked her.

"Because you never asked me to SIT with you!" she told him softly.

"SIT WITH US!" he demanded.

"Thank you, I'd like that," Sakura admitted. Then he realized she was clinging to him and began to turn red. He gently pushed her arms away and guided her to their table of friends.

However half way there, Emma yelled to Sakura.

"I'll find you Kinomoto! You keep your dirty paws offa him, you goody-goody bitch! You HEAR me?"

Syaoran turned around, ready for round two, but Sakura tugged at the shirt that so resembled the vibrant color of her eyes.

"Li-kun don't!" she begged him. His anger faded a little with the sound of pleading in her voice, so he turned around. She was looking at him in a most odd manner and he didn't know why, but it scared him.

"Li-kun…don't…" and with a final gasp she went limp. Eyes wide in shock, Syaoran's arms shot out to catch her.

"Kinomoto? Kino…SAKURA!"

-----------------------------------------

Argh, I'm so sorry I had to end it there. I was seriously running out of ideas and everything seemed to be dragging on. I've come to realize that my chapters seem so short because of the format I use, so I'm hoping that this one will be pretty long!

Well I most certainly have to thanks some of you reviewers for giving me the encouragement and feedback! I LOVE IT! You've given me the encouragement I needed to get back in here again. It feels good to know that someone is reading my works and enjoying them. Kansamnidda! heart heart (thank you in Korean).

**I-am-a-girl-who-never-had-happiness, Anime Flower: **thank you both so much for your support! You've really been the inspiration I needed to start writing again! You two were the first to review after I started again and thought I had lost my chance for reviews in this story. I totally mean it (however corny that may have sounded XD)

**Alice 19th**:Hell yes he has a son! Isn't that so cool:D I've always imagined how a kid of Eriol and XX's might look like and this is what I came up with. Believe it or not, he is actually the youngest, but not the only, child of Eriol and XX's.

_A little bit about Hiiragizawa Gabriel_- He's the youngest son of Eriol and XX (I already sed that). He has an English name, for Eriol's sake after their daughter's name was Japanese. I already made Eriol's oldest child, a girl, look like her mother with her father's hair and eye color. I figured that I would make Eriol's second child look exactly like him. The only difference between father and son is that Gabriel is not so powerful a sorcerer and not so graceful. Quite the opposite, his magic really sucks in comparison to his sister, who comes pretty close to her father. He's the clumsy one while his sister is more conniving and mischievous like Eriol. Although he and his sister tend to bicker and play pranks on each other, they have a pretty close bond. I think it runs in the family. I think it's a Hiiragizawa thing :P

**Syaoran101:** FOUR REVIEWS! I LOVE YOU! Haha! I love Eriol too! Call my crazy but I love that mischievous side of him. I'm a sucker for the gentleman type. But of course Syaoran is cute too! Don't blame you THERE! A shy boy with messy hair and magic. KAWAII-ness, right there.

Actually there _is_ a whole reason behind why I had to make Eriol into something of a dork in the beginning of the story (man, Eriol as a dork --.--, it killed me --.--) . Normally I would insist on my characters keeping their official personality but I've decided to keep this story as close to the one I had originally written in the 7th grade.

In the original story, the Guardian of Sky is actually a boy named Aja Killian. Aja is a very shy boy and a close friend with the Guardian of Fire. The fact that he doesn't speak too often, gives people reason to pick on him. He blushes very easily. The closest person out of the whole movie that ever came close to Aja, I felt, was Eriol. It was a shame that I had to use his glasses as an excuse to mold him into a dork, but I had already changed Syaoran into this tough guy, so why not Eriol too?

It's funny that you mention Eriol dying. After I read that I thought you might be one of my two best friends playing a joke on me and posing as an anonymous reviewer, since they're the only ones who I've told the original story to. To be honest: Yes, Eriol is supposed to die, because he is the Guardian of Sky. (XD My beloved Eriol!) Sorry, but whether Eriol dies or not in this story too you won't get out of me! bwahahahaha! However I would highly encourage you to read the story summary part in my homepage if you want more details of Aja's death. It's not really as bad as you might think!


	11. The Fight and the Fake

Hmmm, nothing really to say here. Buuuut, I DO have more to say to the reviewers for Chapter 10 besides of course, THANK YOU! I'm so happy that you guys liked the last chapter I wrote! I can only hope that u'll enjoy this one too. J Can't say it till the end, so I'll have to hold my breath in for now. Yup, yup. R+R+E...the BIBLE OF FFs!

**--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 11..._The Fight and the Fake_**

Li Syaoran just couldn't sit still. The new girl, Kinomoto Sakura had just fainted into his arms about 3 periods ago, and he didn't know where she was or whether she was okay or not. Why had she fainted? All the English lessons that the teacher was currently attempting to fill his head were pretty much flying out the other ear. The whole Sakura-incident was pretty much upsetting him.

"Can...Can you PLEASE stop fidgeting?" Gabriel snapped. "You're making me nervous!" then he quickly adverted his eyes when the teacher shot him a look from behind his desk.

"Hiiragizawa? Is there a problem?" the English teacher asked. Gabriel gulped. Wow, the English teacher was a bulky man.

Both Eriol and Gabriel looked up at the same time.

"Er...n-no, sir. I was just asking Syaoran for a pencil," he muttered before Eriol could say anything.

"You seem to have a good number of pencils beside you," the teacher pointed out, nostrils flaring.

Bad sign, Gabriel observed. Stupid excuse, he reprimanded himself. He was not good at this sneaking thing. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir," Gabriel ducked his head, ashamed and very aware of his father's glare.

The minute class was over Syaoran jumped to his feet, and without waiting for his friends to catch up with him rushed off to the nurse's office. Just for a little while, he thought. Sakura would not even know he was there.

"Where ya goin Syao-kun?" Skye whispered into his ear as he hurried along.

"To see if Sa-Kinomoto is okay," he mumbled, not really caring that he told the truth.

Skye was quiet as if deciding whether or not to say something, and then said, "If you like her you should tell her."

"I don't even _know_ her, Skye. Don't worry about it!" Syaoran rolled his eyes. Inside he felt a little grateful for their brief talk as the little spirit zoomed into the hood of his jacket.

"Kinomoto-san? What a sweet girl, but such a shame," Syaoran skidded to a halt when he heard someone talking of Sakura.

"Oh, yeah!" he heard a vaguely familiar voice drawl sarcastically. "Yeah, yeah she was nice. Where did she go, old lady?" Emma, Syaoran realized, with a fizzle of anger. What did she want with Sakura? He was pretty sure she was up to no good after that scrap she had almost started with Sakura. What a crappy way to start off in a new school!

"Someone came to pick her up, saying it was normal. I don't really know but I think the girl is really sick, the poor thing. She doesn't seem to have very strong health, if you know what I mean!" the old lady confined and Syaoran felt a stone drop in the middle of his stomach. Syaoran quickly walked away from the door that he had been leaning against.

"So Sakura is...sick?" Eriol said blankly as they walked along the market later on that night.

"Myah," Syaoran said with a mouth full of chocolate ice cream. "Shaowned lifit. (Sounded like it)"

"That's terrible," Tomoyo said and Gabriel didn't say anything as he munched on the chunkee munkee banana ice cream she had bought for him.

"Next time we should sit with her at lunch so that goth girl can't pick on her."

"Mphaweffer (whatever)," Syaoran turned away. He didn't want them to start teasing him if they saw he heartily agreed.

"MIOPH!" Gabriel spluttered in mid-chomp. Someone had thrown ice cream at him. "ONT FRO IFF-CREAM! (Don't throw ice cream!)" he snapped the best that he could with a full mouth and turned to look at who had thrown it, absolutely positive it was one of the sprites. Lately, they were becoming so hyper it was starting to get on his nerves. He was sorely disappointed to see Syaoran witha smudge of chocolate on his right cheek. Syaoran's face burned red, and a bit guilty, he pointed to Pyro who squeaked in protest.

"WHAT! ME?" Pyro, quite offended.

While the two continued to bicker, Eriol turned to Tomoyo and said sadly, "I still don't understand. How are we going to find the Guardian of Earth?"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Geeky Trio!" someone behind them cackled with glee.

Syaoran whipped around (ice cream went flying, forgotten in his anger) as he recognized the voice. Takana Emma leered at them as she lounged on the shoulder of a lanky, pale, teenage boy with long black bangs and icy blue eyes. Like, Emma, he too was a goth.

"Who you calling Geeky, worm?" Syaoran grinned and cracked his knuckles. The boy beside Emma narrowed his eyes at Syaoran and stood up a little straighter, tensed and ready for action. Syaoran's eyes didn't leave the two while the tension continued to climb. Eriol, Gabriel, and Tomoyo both feared the worst.

"You know wha..."

It was at that moment that the five tense teenagers felt a tremor go through them as the earth started to shake.

"You're KIDDING me! Another earthquake? This is the third one!" Tomoyo cried trying desperately to keep her balance. The quake continued to get stronger as people ran for cover screaming.

"Why does this keep happening!"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

And the ever popular, "EARTHQUAKE!"

Emma gave a shriek. Her friend swiveled around and caught her hand, but was unable to keep his balance himself and the two of them fell with a loud splash into a fountain nearby. Mascara rained down her cheeks as she screamed and spluttered in outrage. The boy beside her looked annoyed as he pulled her up.

Syaoran resisted the temptation to laugh as he and his friends made their way to safety. But before they could get very far, the earthquake stopped as quickly as it had begun.

"Was that a normal earthquake?" Gabriel asked Aquia, who shook her head.

"No. And it's not over yet,"she whispered.

"What are you...?"

Syaoran turned to look behind him and frowned. It was bad enough that he had to deal with four annoying sprites and a crazy err...guardian watcher that loved nothing better than to get on his nerves, but now this?

Before them stood a tall young man with long locks of silver hair. Draped over his right shoulder was a long blue robe. Behind miniature spectacles were cold grey eyes. His expression was the expression of someone who did not care who lived or died...heartless and dead that it made the hairs on the back of Syaoran's neck stand on end. The boy reeked of bad karma.

Gabriel had gone pale and backed away altogether, seeming absolutely petrified.

"Ryou," he whispered.

(The four sprites immediately zoomed into hiding, shutting themselves in Syaoran's bag.)

The young man looked in Gabriel's direction slowly upon hearing his name and narrowed his eyes, "Hiiragizawa Gabriel so you are already here. What a pleasant surprise," his voice was whispery and grating at the same time, like the cold rattling breath that one draws upon death.

Gabriel merely grunted in reply.

Ryou closed his eyes and then reached behind him as if to draw something from beneath his robes, which he did.

A loud whistle pierced the air as three globes of light flew into the sky and landed on the ground, sending up sparks and a blinding flash of bright white light (A/N: Hahaha, look who's turning into Dr. Seuss!). When the light died down and those big white spots that you usually get when some idiot thrusts a camera in your face disappeared, Tomoyo cried out.

Ryou held the chains to three growling and very pissed-off-looking creatures each sporting its own spiked collar. The first creature was like a flaming lion. Syaoran's eyes widened in awe and horror as smoke poured from its mouth. That couldn't be good. A fire-breathing lion, he was sure.

The second beast was what Tomoyo recognized as a falcon of water. There was nothing majestic about it at all, especially not the forked tongue that darted out at her, almost mockingly. It was terribly disgusting to tell the truth.

And finally came the lightning beast. Just what animal it represented was sort of undeterminable. The creature's claws seemed to be very sharp and electricity fizzled whenever a foot touched the ground. It stared back at Eriol with bright yellow eyes, its tail (which was actually a streak of lightning) twitched to and fro. It was eager to _hunt_.

"The 3 Elementals and the 3 Guardians, together at last," Ryou hissed. And without further ado he dropped the Elementals' chains. They were free.

"Happy hunting," he cackled and disappeared.

None of the three Guardians dared to move, or even breathe for that matter, as the creatures, each beast every bit similar to the Guardian's power, paced and growled nervously.

"Why are they waiting?" Gabriel finally asked while Eriol stepped in front of him protectively.

"I don't know," his dad replied shortly, obviously waiting and ready for what might happen next.

Syaoran clenched his fists and stood there as the silence hung in the air, the tension growing thicker with every second that ticked past. Finally he dared to step backwards and the lightning creature immediately tensed up, ready to pounce. Tomoyo let out a little shriek. The Elemental of Water dove at her as Syaoran yelled, "RUN!"

Gabriel ran forward, his heart thudding fearfully as he placed himself in front of Tomoyo and staggered backwards crying out a word of power. What looked like a flare to the average eye exploded in the creature's face. Startled, the Elemental shrieked and veered off course, struggling to keep aflight. The magic was right on target but did not hit its mark. Normal magic would not and could not work on an Elemental.

"RUN!" Gabriel cried in anguish.

"WE ARE RUNNING, YOU FREAK! I'M NOT GONNA WAIT TO GET MY ASS WHOOPED BY A FIRE-BREATING CANNONBALL!" Syaoran roared, already way ahead of the rest of them.

"IT'S A CANNIBAL, DIMWIT!"Gabriel retorted. He was trying very hard not to hyperventilate. It was a real problem of his that always found its way back to him in times when he least needed it (Like now).

It didn't work.

"Gabriel! Gabriel what's wrong? Are you okay?" Tomoyo took a hold of his shoulder.

Eriol skidded to a halt, with his eyes wide and rushed back to see what was going on. What was happening to Gabriel? Hearing them stop he whipped around and almost fell into a nearby pile of garbage.

"What the hell are you...?"

"It's Gabriel! He's...he's doing something!"

"Hyper...hyper...ventilating," Gabriel gasped.

"LOOK OUT!" Syaoran yelled.

Tomoyo whirled around to see the Sky Elemental come flying around the corner at top speed, scrabbling on its claws to keep up with them. And keep up with them it had. With a triumphant roar it pounced on the two Hiirgizawas and Tomoyo. Syaoran picked up a trash can lid on the bin nearby and flung it at the creature, hoping against hope that it would strike its mark. It did. With a howl the creature rebounded upon impact on the metal object to slam into the pile of garbage bags by the dumpster.

Syoaran hauled Gabriel to his feet, "Keep running no matter WHAT! We can't let it get us!" he snarled and they continued to run.

The thing was back up and running. Syaoran twisted around and tried to send some fire at the water falcon when it swooped down to take a piece of them. To no avail. The fire sizzled on the Elemental's wings for a few moments before burning to no avail.

"Running... (wheeze)...out of..."

"SHIT! Shit shit shit shit SHIT!" Syaoran screamed when he turned the corner and came up to a dead end. There was nowhere else to run and the Elementals were here. He turned around as if to decide what to do next.

Tomoyo wailed, "What are we gonna do!"

"We fight," Eriol said grimly. Tomoyo hesitated and clenched her eyes shut tightly. She could hear her heart beating rapidly. She was absolutely terrified.

Eriol turned to look at her and with a warm smile he took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze reassuringly. Tomoyo gave a soft gasp and blushed, feeling her heart skip a beat. Her hand seemed to fit perfectly with Eriol's. As a wave of feelings overcame her she hoped that he would never let her hand go.

"I won't let anything happen to you. Or to Gabriel," he whispered fiercely and she smiled weakly. Then he held out a pinkie as if to prove it, "Promise." If he could be strong she should be too, she chided herself, taking a deep breath.

"Okay," she murmured quietly and sent a jet of water arcing out of her palm. Eriol followed behind her and blew a strong gust of wind. Gabriel thrust both palms forth, and the wall started to pulse a dark blue color. Instantly what was merely just a curtain of water became a fortified wall of ice that glistened like diamonds in the moonlight. They had just bought themselves a little more time to think about what to do next. With their powers combined they were far more powerful together than they were alone. The two looked at each other and grinned.

"Riiight," Syaoran drawled, his face hardening into one of resolve, one of determination. "Let's go."

He lifted two fingers to his chest as if in salute and with a satisfied grunt sent trails of angry fire into the air to surround the flying creature above them like ribbons. The combination of wind electricity was enough to make the creature screech in agony and explode into a hundred pieces. Each Guardian dove for cover when the shards of glass rained down on them.

The creatures could indeed be killed, just not alone. They were just one step closer to living until the next day, Syaoran thought triumphantly. He had no doubt these things could kill him. Not that it didn't scare him. He was pretty freaked out. Call it corny if you want, but there was suddenly a ray of hope that proved survival was totally possible tonight. And it made him strong enough to keep going and kick some monster butt.

Then there was a hissing noise as the ice barrier that they had created melted and oozed into a large puddle of harmless water. The Elementals of Fire and Sky had broken through. Not waiting a beat, he yelled to Tomoyo and Eriol, "It's fire! Use ice and water!"

Eriol faced his palm outward and icicles shot out to meet it. For a moment the creature roared in pain and writhed. It seemed that they had accomplished something until it sprang forward and knocked Eriol into the wall.

"HRAH!" the young boy that had joined them not to long before Sakura came had suddenly entered the battle. With a horrible grin he flew at the Elemental of Fire, which tumbled and hissed at him. Predator fought against prey, each attacking the other with equal ferocity. It all went so fast that by the time Syaoran had looked to see what was going on, the Elemental of Fire had literally been extinguished.

They were about to set to killing the final Elemental when the young man cried, "You cannot kill this creature!"

"WHAT!" Gabriel yelped.

"This is no ordinary Elemental. It is not of your nature!" the boy said eyeing the creature as it stepped forward a little er…suggestively.

"Of our NATURE!" Syaoran's voice cracked. "So you jus' snuffed out my uncle or what?" he shot back referring to the previous Elemental of Fire.

"FUN...ny,"the boy shot the Guardian of Fire a glare and continued, "This isn't the same KIND of Elemental as the others!"

And it seemed that he was right. No matter what they tried, their magic went right through the creature. They were exhausted and had no idea what to do. Syaoran had already gotten flung into the wall twice, Eriol was still out cold, Gabriel had a few burns and scratches to show for battle. Things were looking pretty bleak.

"Then what the HELL are we going to..."he stopped abruptly as something crossed his mind. Literally. He looked around as if searching for something.

"Syaoran! What's wrong?" Tomoyo cried. She was currently making ice wall after ice wall to stall some time.

"Someone's coming!" he shouted back to her.

Sure enough the Elemental seemed to have noticed this too. From behind the ice barrier they noticed that it had turned around to look at something behind it. Gabriel ran up close to the ice rather cautiously to see what had caught its full attention. Then he staggered backwards abruptly with a cry of surprise, not quite believing what he saw.

"It's like it was...was swallowed by some kind of black blanket. It's in a little black ball right now."

He didn't say it aloud but they all thought the same thing, 'We're next!'

"What!"

Now fully awake, Eriol felt his skin stand on end. He looked up just in time to see a blinding flash of yellow light shine through the icy barrier.

"GABRIEL! MOVE!" he bellowed.

Gabriel's eyes widened. Then he was flying in the air as the ice barrier exploded, showering them all with ice. Syaoran grunted and hauled Gabriel up by the nape of his shirt, his eyes not wavering from the thick fog that hovered over the ground.

"Stay alert," he whispered.

There was the sound crunching ice as someone slowly picked his or her way through the debris. Sure it was Ryou coming back to finish the job that the Elementals did not, Syaoran threw a fistful of fire into the fog. On the other side he could hear it rebound with something and ducked when his power came back at him. He reared up about to fight back when the figure stepped out of the fog and thrust a short pink staff at him. Recognizing Kinomoto Sakura he immediately dropped his hand.

"Kinomoto?" he cried in disbelief.

It was her. She tilted her head to the side as if trying to recognize him by the sound of his voice.

"Li Syaoran? Is that you?" she asked.

They all looked at each other, each at a loss. What should they do?

Kinomoto scratched her head with a goofy smile on her face.

"Hoe…." she said softly.

-------------------------------------

"You were supposed to be sick," Gabriel accused her the next day beneath the sakura tree on campus.

They had let her go home because she seemed to be in a rush to get home. Syaoran wanted answers but didn't have the heart to hold her back. She would have to come back to school and he would be there waiting for her when she did.

"I am. But as you can _see_, I had things to do," her eyes twinkled with mischief.

"What?" Tomoyo said and Kinomoto held up what looked like a tarot card.

"The Thunder," she replied. "They're cards that come alive, like the one that I think you saw. And judging by the wall you put up, magic's nothing new to you. So I'm trusting you won't freak out when I say that I collect magic tarot cards called Clow Cards."

"How do you get around? I thought you were...?" Eriol started.

"Blind? Yes, I am," she admitted. "But there are some people who can see and sense things others can't. Luckily I'm one of them."

"So…if I were to do this you can see it?" Syaoran asked waving his hand to the right of her head. He wouldn't admit it but he flinched when she grabbed it.

"I can tell you're waving something in my face. I know that there are seven of you here and that four of you aren't human. Although I don't know who you all are. I_ do_ remember meeting Hiiragizawa and Li, though." And so they proceed to introduce themselves.

(Syaoran slowly started to turn red. They were…holding hands! She seemed to have forgotten this face while they talked together, but he couldn't.)

The four sprites of earth, fire, sky, and water took that very moment to descend from their hiding places in the tree and zoom around singing praises. Sakura's eyes widened in awe while they zipped around gaily. To the others they were merely the glowing little chibis that loved nothing more to play. Kinomoto saw four beautiful flying lights, each with its own color that represented an element.

"Wow…What-What are they?" she breathed, almost reaching out to touch the beautiful fire colored orb. Gabriel stopped her from making that mistake just in time when Pyro flared up proudly.

"HOOEEEEE!" she shrieked and squeezed Syaoran's hand harder in her hysteria (Syaoaran felt he'd pop). When she noticed Gabriel's aura flare with amusement she desolved into a fit of giggles.

"You seem so different. You seemed so timid and _extremely_ polite. And defenseless," Eriol pointed out.

Kinomoto sweatdropped, "A-ano…"

Then he seemed to think this was a bit too forward and quickly apologized.

She smiled in his direction and agreed; "I do feel comfortable around all of you, so I guess I might act differently. Though if you can think about it, yesterday was my first day of school with you all. I don't want anyone to treat me differently if I were to act as though I can't see, so I try to be extra polite to others. Be the innocent outsider. I'm not really so defenseless. I-I can take care of myself. Though to be honest I'm a dork. I…I'm kind of shy and a little ditsy," she bit her lip and cringed a little at this, not really proud of it. But you could tell by the defiant look in her eyes that she accepted it.

"I guess you can call me a hypocrite. A fake."

"And this is the real you?" Syaoran asked, his voice strained because she was still holding his hand. The contact between them was doing weird things to him and all he needed was to burst out …whatever feelings he was holding back. He wasn't too keen to find out.

"Yeah."

"That means that you could have defended yourself against Emma that day?" he said quietly. She didn't seem to know who Emma was so he clarified for her and pointed to the goth girl staring off into space across the lawn. Kinomoto looked up and recognized the bright yellow aura across the lawn.

"I could have. I know _some_ defense, but it would have been out of character for the kind of person I was portraying. It would have been suspicious."

It woulda been _hot_, Syaoran would have said. But he kept that to himself.

"She has it coming to her," he said.

"She kinna does, but I wasn't about to blow my cover so soon. I believe in observing others before showing your true own true colors." Syaoran admired that.

"No kiddin' eh? Why don't you just prove it, you Goody-Goody?" she spat and pushed Kinomoto roughly for emphasis. "I knew you were too damn good to be true."

Kinomoto frowned at the girl, but didn't say anything. Emma raised her eyebrows. Emboldened she smirked.

"Ha, I knew you were just talking shit," was all she said and then turned away to leave. She was very disappointed. And then she tripped. With an ear splitting shriek, she went down hard. Sakura's eyes widened when she heard Emma hit the ground. She hadn't laid a glove on the girl, so what had happened? Unfortunately, Emma didn't know that.

"Why you little bitch, so you _do_ have some nerve. If you wanna pick a fight with someone, do it to their freakin' FACE!" she hissed venomously. Syaoran grit his teeth and tried to jump at Emma and do...something but Gabriel grabbed him. He recognized the look in Kinomoto's face all too well. Her jaw was tight, her eyes determined. It said all too clearly, 'Stay out of this'.

"Why don't you tell me what happened. Isn't kind of obvious or is it just you that can't tell? I'm sorry, I'm blind," Sakura said matter-of-factly.

"Don't play stupid, Kinomoto. I'm not an idiot. You're a blind little freak, but you sure as hell aren't deaf!"

"Good point. But I've been standing here twiddling my thumbs while you fell. You're just mad because you tripped over your own two feet and want to pin it on the innocent blind girl. Why don't you just look down to see if you tripped over something," Kinomoto continued as if they were actually talking about what they had done that night instead of the fight they might possibly get into.

Emma looked down at her feet. So it was true. There it was. A long vine was curled around her boot. Damn.

"You stupid bitch," she snarled. "You think you're such a smart ass."

Kinomoto shook her head from side to side, almost pitying, "Don't you have something other to call me than a stupid bitch? It's getting old," Syaoran guffawed as Emma's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

Emma growled in her throat and got to her feet to advance on Kinomoto. Then she faltered as the ground beneath her, and only her, started to quake. It took her a few seconds to realize that the earth on which she stood was actually shifting and rising of its own accord.

"Wha…WHAT'S GOING ON!" she yelled, fear in her voice very evident.

Sakura cocked her head with interested as Emma continued to shriek at the top of her lungs. Syaoran noticed the small smile that played on her lips. People were now coming over to their side of the campus to see what was going on.

"ARGHHHHH KINOMOTO YOU FREAK!"

Kino…_Sakura's_ expression of amusement quickly reverted itself into one of confusion and surprise when she felt people's eyes on her, "A-Ano….I don't understand." For really, how could she? Syaoran was stunned. How could someone do so much and get away with it!

She gave Syaoran a warm smile, making him blush deeper. Finally he couldn't take it any more and felt if he didn't get away from her soon, he'd go crazy and pull her into his arms or something stupid. With a grunt he yanked his hand from her grasp and started to walk away.

"You shoulda jus kicked her ass," he murmured with his back to her as he walked out of the courtyard. She couldn't see the smile on his lips but the strong flare that she sensed in his red and orange aura told her that he was everything but disappointed.

-----------

Yeah, I'm sorry to say it. Sakura's blind. I've become pretty interested in love stories where the girl is disabled. I'm a real romance sap, but it's not just that. It's become more interesting after reading about a character in the FEARLESS series. A boy stuck in a wheelchair that has a bit of a tough streak to him. He and the heroine get into a fight and it was pretty funny, lemme say. I won't go into details, but I HAVE actually considered putting Sakura into a wheelchair (as funny as it sounds), but I felt bad crippling her even more. She's blind, she don't need more, yknow? Lol.

Some people will also notice that she's a little more confident than the regular character. I guess I just wanted her to make more of an impact. Maybe to make up for the blind part. Honestly, I'm tired of writing Mary Jane (as Frasian calls em) Sakuras. So sweet and fragile. She won't be a flirt or anything. Just someone more bold and fun than the real Sakura. Though I like her ditsy side. It's funny.

**Hypajocey, animeflower- **yup a lot of people asked about that. Why _did_ Emma fight with Syaoran if he was the one that she likes? Emma's one of those people who isn't gonna just stand by and twiddle her thumbs if someone tries to jump down her throat, no matter who it is. Once she gets going she's hard to cool down, so naturally she attacked Syaoran. More on this later in the story so keep on reading!

**Mou hitori no Sakura – **lol, thanks for reviewing Chee! Wth, onya? Annyong? O.O

**AMie- **thanks! I'm really happy u thought it was original! (hearts) my sister accused me of stealing this idea from that new show on Toon Disney W.I.T.C.H. dude, she INTRODUCED me to that show and I wrote this in the 7th grade. W.I.T.C.H came out, what….last year? Igooo.

Huh, the dialogue and fights mighta dragged that on a little. Lol, I just started getting all into it, so don't mind me. I enjoyed myself. I hope you did too, so tell me what you think! R+R


	12. Dating Dramas

Hmm someone brought it to my attention that it's taken me too damn long to update and that I need to recap (lol not in so many WORDS but it was the basic message. I jus chose to rewrite it like that XP) after thinking bout it I had to agree. So ive resubmitted this chapter. No wonder you all got 2 emails yeah? Sorry bout that hehehe. So here you go!

_**Recap!**_

_Characters_-

Syaoran: Guardian of Fire and Seeker, seems to have a thing for Sakura

Eriol: Guardian of Sky, seems to like Tomoyo

Tomoyo: Guardian of Water

Sakura: Just transferred to Tomoeda. She collects the Clow Cards and rescued the other Guardians in the last chapter. Is blind.

Gabriel: Eriol's future son. Looks just like his father. Came to Tomoeda for a reason. Not much is known about him.

Ryou: A henchman of Chaos. Sicced four evil creatures on the Guardians yesterday night. Definitely evil.

Kotoko: Another henchman of Chaos. She tried to kill Tomoyo, but failed. Has the power of earth and water.

Takana Emma: A goth girl that has a crush on Syaoran and wants to crush Sakura. Sakura "crushed" her instead in the last chapter tho, lol.

Babysitter/ Chips: Messenger sent by the Prophet that was really annoying and seemed useless until he helped rescue Tomoyo. Actually has a serious, deadly side to him.

Prophet: The Chief Messenger of god, in charge of guiding the Guardians. Whether the Prophet is a male or female is yet to be seen. He/She usually sits in the dark on an eerie looking throne.

Ah well, remember the bible: E+R+R. Need I say more:D Onward.

**--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 12..._Dating Dramas _**

She was the topic of everyone's gossip that afternoon and the next day too. It felt good to have stood up to Emma, Sakura admitted to her friends as they walked down the hall to class. But the stares and whispers that were flying between people were very uncomfortable.

"That's the girl that took down Emma this morning," a boy pointed to Sakura for his girlfriend.

"Haha, they make Emma sound like she's cattle or something!" Gabe burst out laughing and Eriol chuckled along with him and Syaoran.

"Aside from the whole blind thing, she's pretty hot. Y'think she'd go to the dance with me?" one boy asked his friend.

(The boy backpedaled into his locker door when Syaoran shot him a dirty look, just daring the boy to try it.)

"Yeah, yeah that's right. The blind one. Kinna freaky in a way. I mean dude, the ground totally raised up on its own! But cool," another girl said to her friend who looked at Sakura in awe.

Sakura flinched with a big sweatdrop and Tomoyo frowned at what the boy had said.

"Yeah, how _did_ you do that, Sakura? Is there a card to control vines or make the ground move by itself?"

"Actually, there is. But I don't have it yet," she remarked thoughtfully.

"Really? So what happened?" Eriol asked and all of their attention was on her.

"I…I don't know. Emma was really making me angry and it was like that vine moved on its own! I could feel it! It was mad too! I mean…" she blushed and seemed to realize that what she was saying might have sounded stupid. "The vine didn't talk to me or anything, Its aura was so…_bright_! It was actually very very beautiful. A pretty, sparkling, emerald green," she sighed wistfully.

Syaoran scrutinized her as she stared out into space. Maybe she _was_ the Guardian of Earth! Who else would have the power to move plants without realizing it? It had probably felt her anger and took it upon itself to act or something. If so, then why didn't the Prophet teleport them up there or do whatever it was that it did when they found all the Guardians?

Tomoyo looked at Syaoran and then at Eriol. Both young men seemed to be deep in thought. So she said what they were all thinking at the same time, "Maybe you're the…"

_Riiiiiiiing! RING!_

...of Earth?" she finished. Annoyance creased her face with the interruption and Skye giggled from inside her jacket.

"Crappy timing," Syaoran muttered as he headed off to class with Sakura.

However, halfway around the corner, Sakura gave gasp of surprise as she flew backwards. Someone had bumped into her.

"Why doncha look where you're goin!" Syaoran growled as he helped Sakura up. Then he noticed whom Sakura had bumped into and stepped in front of her protectively.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" he yelled.

Ryou, the same Ryou who had sicced the two Elementals and Thunder Card on them yesterday night, looked at Syaoran with a look of polite disdain.

"I go to school here," he said softly as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, which Syaoran caught. He _was_ wearing a school uniform.

"You try ANYTHING and I'll KNOW. It's four against one," Syaoran said with his teeth grit. Ryou merely smiled cynically.

"Don't underestimate me Guardian of Fire. I'm not as weak as you think," he hissed and stalked off.

Sakura asked if that was the man or boy they had had the fight with the previous night. Syaoran merely grunted and told her very firmly not to trust him.

The other three Guardians were very shocked when they rejoined together at lunch to learn that Ryo had suddenly enrolled himself into their school. Gabriel, however, was unimpressed. When they asked him why he wasn't surprised he merely shrugged and remarked that he'd had unfortunate experiences with Ryo back in his time and so he had come to know the boy very well.

"What IS he doing here then?" Eriol demanded and Gabriel suddenly grinned widely.

"He's getting cold feet and so is Chaos. That's because the Guardian of Earth is close. _Very_ close but he won't admit that it's too late to stop us by now. They would have had to stop Sakura from coming to this school. And it didn't work. So Ryo is here to watch us," he finished. Which seemed to be true as Ryo was indeed watching them from afar. Sakura's eyes widened when everyone turned to look at her.

"Phwee!"

"Sakura," Gabriel said, "YOU are the…ARRRGH!" then he jumped about a foot into the ear from the ground as a loud ring went off in his pocket (which was quite a feat as he was sitting on the ground). Breathing heavily Gabriel reached into his pocket to produce what looked like a circular pendant. Gaia seemed to think otherwise as the device continued to ring.

"Gabriel, why do you have a makeup compact in your pocket?" she asked him and he turned red. Ignoring her, he opened the 'compact'. It was a large, blue circular disk about the size of his palm. On the lid was a jewel encrusted moon which made Aquia's eyes light up, "Preeetty."

"WHAT!" Gabriel shrieked into the compact and everyone leaned forward to look. "You just stopped me from saying something very important!" Noticing everyone's looks of curiosity, he scooted back.

"What's wrong, squirt?" a girl laughed from inside the compact. Eriol looked closer to see a girl with short blue hair like his own laughing into the screen. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"Do you wanna go first or should I be the first to let you know that Ryo's on his way to see you?" then the girl flinched as a man's voice yelled from somewhere in the background.

"Too late," Gabriel said gloomily. "What'd you do now?" he asked hearing the voice.

The girl cackled with glee, "Sounds like dad found Suppi hanging from the chandelier. Nakuru's having a field day. It's kinna funny. I gotta go!" Gabriel winced and Eriol took a good look at the young woman. She noticed him and gave him a wink before disappearing. With a sigh Gabriel snapped the compact shut.

"Was that your…?"

"My sister? Your daughter? Yeah. That's Sakura, though we call her Mina," Gabriel shivered. "She loves to push your buttons. And mine," he added frowning. Before Eriol could ask more questions, however, Gabriel got back to the main point, which was Sakura.

"Sakura. Ryo is here because _he_ knows, that _we_ know, that you _don't_ know..."

Syaoran growled, "Spit it OUT, already!"

"...that you're the Guardian of Earth," Gabriel finished.

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise, "I'm the what? I don't remember being any kind of Guardian."

"Neither do we, apart from Tomoyo, but it's true. Noone else could have pulled the ground out from beneath Emma's feet. But you did, so you must be the Guardian of Earth. There's no other explanation for it."

Turning red, Syaoran realized that that wasn't totally true as he walked Sakura to her next class (it had become something of an unspoken promise lately). Remembering his dream, he felt everything around him grow fuzzy as her voice echoed in his head:

"_Promise that you'll never forget me?"_

"_What kinna stupid question is that? Do you think you're going somewhere?"_

_She twirled a forget-me-not flower in her fingers thinking about it, "No. Just promise me that no matter what happens tomorrow you won't forget me, okay Syaoran?" _

What? That wasn't how it went! He thought and frowned.

"Syaoran?" Sakura was calling him. Syaoran snapped out of it.

"Huh?"

"I was trying to ask you about the dance. Are you going?" Syaoran flushed red. He'd forgotten about the dance.

"Kinomoto-san?" a voice asked tentatively and Syaoran sweat dropped. Kami-sama, please let this not be happening. They were really lining up today! he thought as the boy looked nervously between Sakura and Syaoran.

"Sakura, please," she corrected him and he blushed slightly.

"Erm...I was just w-wondering if you wanted to…."

Suddenly, Syaoran slammed his locker shut and casually draped an arm across Sakura's shoulder. A bit possessively. "Actually, I already asked Sakura to go to the dance with me," he said casually.

The boy took a step back suddenly, "Oh, I didn't know. Sorry about that," then he fled.

"So Syaoran, we're going to the dance together?" she asked shyly and Syaoran tensed up.

Nearby there was a little giggle and Syaoran frowned and looked into the locker he had just slammed to see two little globes of light, green and fiery orange. Syaoran blushed and shook his head quickly. Instantly there were more giggles from inside the locker. The sprites could sense his nervousness. Syaoran pounded on the locker once just to rattle them a bit and was rewarded with little shrieks of terror.

"So you're NOT taking me to the dance even though you just played it off about a minute ago?" she said softly. Syaoran felt a little ashamed to take note of the annoyance and hurt he heard in her voice.

"Erm.."

Sakura's eyes went blank, and she turned away. "It's okay, Syaoran," she assured him a little too cheerfully.

Damn.

"Sakura, wait!" he called out. Sakura turned around.

"I-I…I'll take you to the dance," he muttered. Then he rushed out of the hallway, tripping over a rubbish can on his way out.

He was so anxious to get to his next class he didn't notice the couple that was carefully watching him from the balcony about a floor up.

"It's almost time," the young man commented. The young woman beside him rolled her eyes.

"No shit Sherlock. Dya think you can quit the dramatics for just a little bit and leave the Guardians alone during the dance?" she was very tall with long black hair. When he didn't reply, she tapped her long black fingernails on the rail impatiently.

"What Chaos decides to do is none of your business," he replied coldly. "The Guardian of Earth _must_ die."

She narrowed her black-rimmed eyes at him and leaned in closer to him. He didn't flinch. "Don't worry Ryou, the Triarch will be watching you. I _dare_ you to just try and lay a finger on Sakura. You'll wish you hadn't," Katana Emma hissed and walked away, the heels of her boots clicking.

Ryou grinned, "Just watch the world fall at Chaos' feet. That dance will be a night to remember forever."

-------------------------------

"XIAO-LANG UR GONNA BE LATE!" a voice hollered on the night of the dance.

Syaoran growled in his throat. Great. This just got better and better. Missing tie, one sock, late, and still half dressed. He hopped on one foot while putting on his sock.

"I KNOW! Where is that damn TIE?" he roared his eyes searching the room. Tonight was the dance and he was supposed to meet Sakura there. At first he'd thought of ditching but then his mother had somehow known about it and made sure he knew she had her support 100 percent. His sisters were no better, either.

"Found it!" Pyro cackled and yanked the tie out from beneath Syaoran's foot. He went down hard.

"Where—HOLY…!"

"Mother of God, I hope," Pyro finished and dangled the tie above the Guardian's head. Syaoran snatched the tie out of the spirit's hands and ran for the door.

He'd had to meet Sakura at the school gym half an hour ago! As much as he hated this dance (which by the way, he could not dance period), he hated even more to see the disappointment on her face. He definitely didn't want to see her crying. He didn't know why, but he knew it would probably make him feel like shit later.

His sister, Fanren, caught him on the way out, camera in hand, "Picture!" she said cheerfully. Syaoran snatched the camera out of her hand with a smirk.

"Forget it," he made for the door. Unfortunately all his sisters were trained in the martial arts too. Fanren's smile didn't fade as she grabbed the strap attached to her camera and hooked her foot around her brother's at the same time.

"I'm _not _losing another camera to you, Xiao-lang!" she retorted when he went down yet again. Syaoran groaned and slammed his palm against the floor.

"FINE! Take your dumb camera!" he cried and jumped to his feet. Fanren snapped a photo of his back as he went through the door.

He was completely out of breath when he finally made it to the gym. Syaoran looked around anxiously. Where the hell was she? He thought as he wandered around the gym. It was so damn dark in here.

"Syaoran!" a girl's voice cried. Syaoran whipped around towards the sound of her voice and sped up. Go go go! He told himself. When he found her, he noticed it was a tall girl with long black hair, her dark eyes sparkling wickedly. The short black dress with black lace hugged her body. Emma.

Syaoran quickly whipped around yet again. Wrong way! And made a beeline for the crowd of people behind him.

But that was only because there were so many people on the dance floor, currently swaying to a slow dance for couples. Above them there were little splashes of pink, blue, purple, and green light that seemed to roam around the floor. Purple and blue streamers hung from the wall delicately weaving in and out of each other in what seemed to be intricate designs. Green and pink balloons littered the dance floor.

Pink, green, blue, and purple? What stupid colors, Syaoran thought with amusement. Who could have come up with something like that?

"Syaoran!" someone called his name yet again. He was almost afraid to look but when he realized the voice was masculine he turned around and saw Eriol beaming at him. "I thought you said you were going to play sick or something! Isn't this great? Tomoyo decorated all of this," he said and Syaoran noted the pride in his voice.

Tomoyo, Syaoran thought. Should've known. She sometimes had the most unique sense of fashion.

Speak of the devil. Tomoyo came up from behind Eriol, looking elegant in billowing violet skirt and blouse. "Syaoran! There you are! You're LATE. Sakura's been waiting for more than half an hour! Boys kept on asking her to dance. I must have counted twenty by now!" she exclaimed.

Syaoran panicked and felt his heart speed up, "What'd she tell them? Did she accept their offers?" he croaked.

"No. She said she was waiting for her date. You're lucky, too," Eriol answered. "She's waiting for you by the punch table." Without a word Syaoran bustled off for the table just in time to see a tall blue-haired young man retreating from the table, his shoulders slumped a little.

The auburn-haired girl cocked her head upon his arrival and a smile slowly made its way to her face, "Syaoran?"  
He shrugged and nodded. Sakura laughed and stood up. Syaoran's gaped in awe. She was gorgeous.

Tonight she wore a short pink skirt and had on a long sleeved, black blouse. Pink ribbons wound around her waist and hips, accenting her feminine curves and framing her body perfectly. Instead of shoes she wore black boots that covered everything from her knees down.

"I think you're catching flies," she teased when he didn't reply. "Would you like to dance with me? I've been dying to dance all night!"

"Why didn't you dance with all the _other_ boys who asked you?" He mentally slapped himself as soon as the words left his mouth.

She only shrugged and smiled mysteriously, "Because I only want to dance with you, Syaoran." He blushed. Why'd she have to say that? He wondered exasperated with the way his heart was speeding up again.

Then she gently wrapped her hand around his arm and proceeded to lead him to the dance floor. However he dug his heels into the floor and shook his head quickly, "I-I can't!"

"What?"

"I…I…"

"You can't dance?" she finished for him. She took his silence as a yes. "Don't worry, I'll lead."

"WHAT? Girls never lead dances! Besides I might step on your feet," he said gruffly.

"This one does. Now come on," she yanked his arm a little more insistently. He remained rooted to the ground and refused to budge.

"I have all night, Syaoran," she chuckled. Syaoran sighed and allowed himself to be pulled onto the dance floor.

"Now put your arms around my waist," she instructed.

He felt his hair (and heart rate) quicken, "WHAT?" he hissed. Sakura sighed and placed one hand on her waist, the other in her hand. Then she put curled her fingers around his and rested her hand on his shoulder lightly.

"There, better?" she asked. He had stiffened up.

He was about to say 'No' when she pulled him to her and started to dance. Sakura didn't let him stepping on her toes discourage her and he was glad too. He was sure that if she were to step on his toes it'd hurt a lot more due to the stiletto heels she had on. Then, before he had caught on, they were floating around the dance floor. Whirling gracefully while she led him around.

There were sighs of envy as boys and girls alike watched the couple dancing together. Who the heck would want to compete with something like that?

On the side of the dance floor Tomoyo smiled through the lens of her camera, "Kawaii," she breathed as she watched Sakura and Syaoran dancing.

"Tomoyo?" Eriol asked her. She turned to find him holding his hand out to her.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked. Tomoyo smiled and took his hand.

Together they danced, not thinking about the threat that presently loomed over earth. Not knowing that the threat and the end were sooner than they might imagine. Instead they thought about each other and the promises to come.

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Forgive me that took so long! XD I was so lost as to what might happen, lol. Anyhoooo,keep reading! And you definitely have to review! Good or bad, come on people throw em at me! I CAN TAKE IT!

**syaoran101: **yah it does kinna suck that Sakura's blind don't it? Im sad that she's never gonna b a cheerleader and go scurrying around worryin about being late, but it has it's prices. If u ever do feel the urge to flame me or whatever, don't b afraid to. Im not gonna freak out…okay maybe I might but eh learn to deal, yknow?

I think of Sakura as the kinna person who just wont let nething take her down. Before she ever met Syaoran she actually _was_ pretty insecure about herself and she had a lot of problems, absolutely no confidence. She wasn't born blind (ehhhh, explanations later) and it was something that was new and scary. But by now she has learned to look past her disability and to really _see.._.to be strong. CLAMP's Sakura isn't the kind of person to wallow in misery remember:)

**Anime Flower: **lol much thnx! N don't worry bout the mistake. It was cool to hear from u. n me, mind? NEVA:)


	13. The Beginning of the End

wHmmmm, I need to recap my disclaimer. (Ahem!) : I OW—I DON'T OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA! (wilts) there I said it. (sniffles)

* * *

_**Recap!**_

_Characters_-

Syaoran: Guardian of Fire and Seeker (formerly known as Pyro in his other life as a God of Fire), has totally got it bad for Sakura.

Eriol: Guardian of Sky (Once called Ciel), seems to like Tomoyo.

Tomoyo: Guardian of Water (AKA Lady Cordelia in her former life). Might like Eriol.

Sakura: Possibly the Guardian of Earth (Whose name was always Sakura) Just transferred to Tomoeda. She collects the Clow Cards and rescued the other Guardians in Ch11. Has been certified to be blind but her overwhelmingly keen senses allows her to see the auras of those around her in accordance to magic and mood. Is said to have a special power that none

Hiiragizawa Gabriel: Eriol's future son. Looks just like his father. Came to Tomoeda for a specific reason he refuses to discuss. Who is his mother? Not much is known about him.

Ryou: A henchman of Chaos. Sicced four evil creatures on the Guardians in Ch11. Definitely evil.

Kotoko: Another henchman of Chaos. She tried to kill Tomoyo, but failed. Has the power of earth and water.

Takana Emma: A goth girl that has a crush on Syaoran and wants to crush Sakura. Sakura "crushed" her instead in Ch11, lol.

Babysitter/ Chips: Messenger sent by the Prophet that is really annoying and seemed useless until he helped rescue Tomoyo. He actually has a serious, deadly side to him. Has not been seen or heard from for some time.

the Prophet: The Chief Messenger of god, in charge of guiding the Guardians. Whether the Prophet is a male or female is yet to be seen. He/She usually sits in the dark on an eerie looking throne.

the Spirits/Sprites: Four mischievous beings, each made of their own element, that only those with magic can see. Fire: Pyro. Sky: Skye, Water: Aquia, Earth: Gaia.

_The Story Thus Far:_

Syaoran definitely had just work cut out for him when the divine being known as the Prophet ordered him to find the 4 Guardians who were destined to save the world from the power of Chaos. But even after finding the Guardians and even Hiiragizawa's son from the future, Gabriel, things weren't getting any better. Chaos's henchmen Kotoko and Ryou were on their backs at every chance and even Syaoran's steadfast admirer Takana Emma was pressuring Syaoran into going to the school dance with her! Luckily, Syaoran went to the dance with hiscrush Kinomoto Sakura (the blind Cardcaptor who just transferred into Tomoeda).

* * *

**--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 13..._the Beginning of the End _**

It was probably one of the more perfect moments in his life. Gliding gracefully with a beautiful girl, colorful spheres of green, pink, purple, and blue roaming the dance floor. It was really amazing how just being with Sakura made Syaoran's mind do the laffy taffy jig, if that made any sense. It felt nice. He liked it.

Then he noticed the blank look on her face and felt a little ashamed. Was he still dancing like a penguin or something? No. Maybe she was bored. He was almost happy with the distraction when the little spirits starting zooming around people's heads. They had also come along with the other Guardians. Skye was extremely insistent when he learned there would be food served.

"_WHEEE!"_

"_I WANT THE BALLOON, AQUA!"_

_"NO! IT'S MI—_POP_!" _

There was a little shriek when Skye flew backwards and landed in the punchbowl. A boy nearby looked up, a look of confusion and fear on his face when the punchbowl tipped over of it's own accord.

"HUH!"

Sakura giggled at the bewildered look on the boy's face and turned to Syaoran, who slowly began to relax.

"So, Sakura. How long have you been doing magic?" he felt much more at ease now to ask her questions.

"Since I was 10, so about 7 years," she replied and they twirled to the side.

"So you've known all this time you've had magic? That's not fair! It scared the crap out of me when I realized I could throw fire. A walking fire-hazard," he admitted. She laughed and patted his shoulder kindly. The simple gesture sent little tremors of pleasure rippling through his heart where she had touched him.

"It's okay now, though. Because you have people around you, right?" he could only shrug as the fire sprite whizzed past his ear with a cackle of glee.

It seemed as though the sprites had gotten into a full-blown battle of whipped cream and peaches near the punch table. People were diving for cover.

"_Tag! You're it!"_ Aqua shrilled and rammed into Gaia.

"_We'll see!"_ she cried back and took off after Aqua like a shot, ignoring Gabriel's attempts to grab the sprites and stuff them in a little hand bag he'd brought in case they got out of hand like they were now. Gabriel did not have a date (claiming he had a girlfriend), but had only come along to watch over the spirits, who had insisted on coming along.

"Yeah, I have the Guardians with me. I have you," she said.

Syaoran's eyes widened in surprise and he blushed furiously. It only took him a few seconds of getting caught off guard before he stepped on her foot again. Sakura burst out laughing and inclined her head down. At the same time, Syaoran dropped his gaze shyly, blushing madly. Together their heads connected and made a loud cracking sound upon impact.

Sakura's gasped softly and staggered at pain exploded on her forehead. His forehead searing with pain, Syaoran's long hands shot out to catch her when she fell. When Sakura came her to senses she realized that he was clutching her close to him, her head leaning against his muscular chest. Her hands were delicately intertwined with his. Sakura's green eyes widened in surprise and embarrassment, her cheeks aflame. Smiling tenderly, Syaoran ran a thumb across her cheek. His hands were very warm, calloused and contrasted wonderfully with her soft skin.

"You're so pretty when you blush," he said softly.

Sakura closed her eyes with a sigh. When she opened her eyes locked with his and she saw his amber orbs were glowing like embers, glowing with feelings she couldn't recognize. Feelings that were raging to escape, like her own. The sounds of voices around her faded into a dull murmur, and then they were alone.

Suddenly, Syaoran's eyes widened and went blank.

"Syaoran?" she tried to call him, but received no response.

Sakura immediately felt the fear trickle down her spine like the edge of a razor when his eyes began to water, his body becoming stiff. Something was happening. Something bad. His breathing began to come in gasps.

"Syaoran!" then as quickly as it had started it ended. His eyes snapped to hers, holding her tighter.

"Never. I'll never let that happ—" then the lights went out and the entire room was plunged into darkness.

Instantly cries of frustration erupted throughout the gym. Students were groping for each other. In the clamor, Syaoran was forced to step on a few toes here and there as he and his date tripped.

"OW! Get your foot outta my face!"

"WHAT! Move your ass off of my girlfriend's hand!"

Throughout the confusion teachers desperately fought for control of the students as things got out of hand. Up in the air, the spirits were wailing piteously at the blackout.

"_Pyro! I told you to leave the stupid box alone!" _

_"It wasn't me, it was Skye, you dork!" _

From the other side of the room somewhere near the food table a little voice squeaked in protest, "_LIAR!" _

Syaoran grabbed the first sprite that got close enough and shook it in his fist. It just so happened to be Pyro. Even in the dark Syaoran could tell that the spirit was grinning smugly.

"What's wrong Syaoran got a boo-boo?" it laughed. Syaoran growled and shook the fire sprite harder. There was a distinct rattle and amidst the giggles of its fellow sprites he shrilled.

"Okay! Okay! I'll shut up!" Pyro said quickly.

"What'd you do to the lights, Pyro?" Syaoran hissed.

"NOTHING! It wasn't me! Or Skye! Honest!" he insisted desperately. Syaoran was putting out the flames in the sprite's hair.

Above them, Syaoran could hear Gaia gasp, "_You big liar!_" Which was quite an overstatement considering Pyro's miniature size.

If Pyro was about to make any protests they were abruptly cut off when high laughter rang out in the dark. Syaoran stiffened and tightened his arm around Sakura's waist unconsciously. It wasn't the kind of laughter that you heard when someone had told a joke. This was the cold, harsh laughter that you would hear when someone wanted you hurt. When someone wanted you dead.

"Stay with me," Syaoran warned Sakura and released Pyro. She only nodded, shifting into an upright stance, but didn't disturb the grip that he had on her waist.

As Syaoran attempted to locate the source of laughter he was aware of a storm that was slowly brewing in the upper parts of the gym. Clouds as well as lightning were gradually accumulating inside the gym. He grit his teeth, concentrating hard. He was pretty sure that Eriol had nothing to do with this, either.

"There!" Sakura cried pointing to a place in the darkness.

High above them on the higher balcony of the gym a tall young man with a robe draped around his shoulders was laughing as globes of fire and lightning pulsed in his hands. A sense of dread crawled across the room as lightning flashed inside the building.

Screams tore through the building and then the beautiful night that had once consisted of smiles and happiness, of peace, was shattered, becoming only a dream. Students started to rush towards the exits in a desperate effort to get away. They had no regard for each other. People were knocked down and stepped on, some refused to go down and fought against the tide of bodies clamoring for escape. Syaoran held Sakura firmly and grunted as people rammed into him. She had suddenly gone rigid with fear and was gripping Syaoran tightly. All she could see was a blur of shadows moving past her range of sight. Then he took a deep breath and gently, but firmly, guided Sakura to the exit.

"SYAORAN!" Syaoran looked around him. Amidst the crowd also fighting against other people was Eriol. In one arm he held Tomoyo to him. In his other arm he held Gabriel (who in turn, was clutching a large, squirming sack to his chest which no doubt held the 4 hyper spirits).

Syaoran was about to reply when Sakura let out a shriek of surprised. There was a distinct crack in his neck, when he whipped his head around to see what had brought it about. She was pointing to a hooded figure in a long white cloak with magical sigils traced into the fabric. The figure, which was standing near the school statue, drew closer to the Guardians, Syaoran's muscles tensed up, ready to react as the figure came to a halt.

"Y-You!" Sakura gasped, her lip trembling. "You're the one I've been seeing in my dream at night!"

"What to you want?" Eriol's voice was low and guarded. Gabriel's grip on the sack tightened anxiously.

"_I want only for the end to come and at the same time, for the end to recede," _the eerily familiar voice rattled from in the cloak. Suddenly the sack began to squirm again, more violently this time.

"OUT! WANT OUT!"

"HE'S HERE!" their voices squeaked.

Then figure chuckled and Syaoran's eyes widened in recognition when two pale hands marked with more magical symbols like those on the cloak reached out and pulled down the hood to reveal a young boy about the age of ten with white hair. The boy smiled a bit sadly at the Guardians in greeting. On the bridge of his nose were gleaming spectacles with gold frames. His eyes were almond shaped, almost cat-like. They did not have a particular color to them. Every few seconds his eyes would change colors. Hazel…blue…brown…chestnut...gold...white shiver

The eyes slowly turned to Syaoran, "_Seeker, you have done your job well,"_ he said warmly. It was odd hearing such a masculine voice coming from such a young boy.

"The Prophet," he whispered. At the same time the sprites managed to free themselves from the sack and were now flitting around the Prophet. Gabriel stared in disbelief at the hole in the bottom of his sack.

"Prophet!"

"We missed you!"

The Prophet smiled at each of the sprites in return then turned his gaze to the four Guardians, a grim look on his face.

"_The God is pleased that you have managed to find yourselves in this time of peril," _he said and then turned to each Guardian as he spoke their names.

"_Pyro. Guardian of Fire..Seeker," _Syaoran nodded.

"_Ciel. Guardian of Sky,"_ Eriol looked up at the Prophet.

"_Lady Cordelia, Guardian of Water,"_ Tomoyo smiled weakly in response.

Then the Prophet turned to Sakura and nodded solemnly, "_Sakura…Guardian of Earth, Mistress of Clow, Bringer of Salvation, welcome."_

"Bringer of Salvation?" Gabriel's eyes widened. "No..."

Eriol turned to him in question and his son shook his head quickly.

"_I think now,"_ the Prophet said slowly,_"is the time to take action…"_

Syaoran's breath caught in his throat. This was not something they could take lightly, he knew. His heart thumped.

_"Now we will lay witness to the beginning of the end…" _

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Yes! Finished! Well, I have a big thank you for the girl who helped me!

A HUGE mahalo goes out to my sister, my Poni, who gave me many ideas for this chapter and the one after it. Majority of them, to be honest. THANK YOU PONIIIII!

Also thanks to syaoranlol for advising a **_recap. _**Your suggestions, as all reviewers, are totally appreciated:)


	14. Game Start

ahhhh, someone brought it to my intention that it might be a LIIITTLE helpful for me to include the story thus far. too true. GOMEN! LOL just think of this as a permanent development in the story from here on. might as well be, eh?

_**Recap!**_

_Characters_-

Syaoran: Guardian of Fire and Seeker (formerly known as Pyro in his other life as a God of Fire), has totally got it bad for Sakura.

Eriol: Guardian of Sky (Once called Ciel), seems to like Tomoyo.

Tomoyo: Guardian of Water (AKA Lady Cordelia in her former life). Might like Eriol.

Sakura: Guardian of Earth (Whose name was always Sakura) Just transferred to Tomoeda. She collects the Clow Cards and rescued the other Guardians in Ch11. Has been certified to be blind but her overwhelmingly keen senses allows her to see the auras of those around her in accordance to magic and mood. Is said to have a special power that none

Hiiragizawa Gabriel: Eriol's future son. Looks just like his father. Came to Tomoeda for a specific reason he refuses to discuss. Who is his mother? Not much is known about him.

Ryou: A henchman of Chaos. Sicced four evil creatures on the Guardians in Ch11. Definitely evil.

Kotoko: Another henchman of Chaos. She tried to kill Tomoyo, but failed. Has the power of earth and water.

Takana Emma: A goth girl that has a crush on Syaoran and wants to crush Sakura. Sakura "crushed" her instead in Ch11, lol.

Babysitter/ Chips: Messenger sent by the Prophet that is really annoying and seemed useless until he helped rescue Tomoyo. He actually has a serious, deadly side to him. Has not been seen or heard from for some time.

the Prophet: The Chief Messenger of god, in charge of guiding the Guardians. Whether the Prophet is a male or female is yet to be seen. He/She usually sits in the dark on an eerie looking throne.

the Spirits/Sprites: Four mischievous beings, each made of their own element, that only those with magic can see. Fire: Pyro. Sky: Skye, Water: Aquia, Earth: Gaia.

_The Story Thus Far:_

Syaoran definitely had just work cut out for him when the divine being known as the Prophet ordered him to find the 4 Guardians who were destined to save the world from the power of Chaos. But even after finding the Guardians and even Hiiragizawa's son from the future, Gabriel, things weren't getting any better. Chaos's henchmen Kotoko and Ryou were on their backs at every chance and even Syaoran's steadfast admirer Takana Emma was pressuring Syaoran into going to the school dance with her! Luckily, Syaoran went to the dance with hiscrush Kinomoto Sakura (the blind Guardian of Earth and Cardcaptor). However at the last minute, Ryou crashed the dance sending the students running and screaming in a panic. It was outside that the Guardians met up with the Parfai--Prophet in person, who looked like a young man around the age of 10 or so. The Prophet informed them that as the Gaurdian of Earth, Sakura was the only one who had the power to call on Salvation...bringer of peace.

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well, we've pretty much reached the climax of the story right here. we're moving right along! read and enjoy!

**--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 14..._Game Start _**

_"Sakura!" Syaoran gasped for air and ran faster, the soles of his boots trampling over various dead leaves and sticks as he made his way along. _

_Somewhere in the darkness, a girl whimpered. Else where a voice he did not recognize whispered, his voice echoing off the trees around him._

'And then…when night and day…'

"_Sakura!" _

_Then behind him a stick cracked and he twisted around. The moon shone brilliantly in the forest clearing, but tonight the moon was far from beautiful. Tonight it glared down on the forest, casting an eerie glow on all that it touched. _

_'…_become one…

_Syaoran turned this way and that trying to calculate his chances of making it there in time. He shouldn't have left that damn map with Gabriel. He had to help her! Where was she?_

'…shall Salvation come…'

_Suddenly a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the silence making Syaoran's heart throb painfully. He whipped around and started running towards the sound of her scream as it went on and on and then there was silence… _

_"SAKURA!" _

Syaoran jolted up in bed gasping for air, his heart racing. Sweat ran down his forehead. Trickled down the muscular contours of his chest and abdomen. Soaked his sheets. His bed reeked of fear and of the nightmare that had been haunting him since the night of the dance with Sakura. Warily he turned to the clock by his table. The digital red numbers told his aching body that it was 3 in the morning.

Syaoran groaned. What was happening to him?

"Bad dream?" Pyro floated around his room, pulsing softly with a fiery glow.

He flopped back into his bed with a groan. Why did he keep having this dream? Syaoran grumbled and turned over in bed. Damn nightmares. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. He couldn't get her screams out of head. Screams that chilled him to the bone and made his heart stop in his chest.

They even plagued him during the daytime, turning him into some sort of zombie.

"SYAORAN!" a voice cried. Startled, Syaoran staggered backwards into the set of lockers nearby. _BANG!_ The group of girls who had been standing there shrieked as he fell into them. Girls and boy went down like a set of bowling pins and papers flew into the air.

"Damnit! What the hell?" Syaoran roared, enraged with his behavior. The girls flinched, thinking that he was talking about them and he waved them off, rolling his eyes. Eriol flew over to help them up.

With Eriol's help the girls staggered to their feet and Syaoran rose as well, grabbing the first thing that he could find to steady himself. It just so happened to be a stuffed cow keychain hanging from the girl's bag. There was a loud _MOOO_ and then the owner of the keychain Syaoran had grabbed brought everyone else down with her like dominoes.

"Someone's getting clumsy," Aquia sang, hovering over the head of a girl with pink pigtails.

"As an OX," Pyro sniggered.

Sakura burst out laughing, holding onto the door of her locker for support. Tomoyo had an odd look on her face as if she was trying not to laugh as well. Syaoran shot Sakura a dirty look, as red as a drunk.

When he had finally managed to make it to his feet Sakura put her hands on his shoulder to steady him. She was still laughing. "Syaoran, what's wrong with you today?"

Syaoran scratched the back of his head, blushing, "Nothin's wrong with me, dammit. It's just…just that time of week for me." He said referring to those times of the week where things just weren't going right.

Eriol's eyes twinkled wickedly, "That time of the week? Having female problems? Are you PMSing, Syaoran?" he asked slyly.

Syaoran grinned horribly, "Har de har har. Are you BS-ing, Eriol? Though I do feel a little bit like hitting something, I'm so stressed out. Care to volunteer?" It seemed with all the stress he was going through he'd slipped back into his bully frame of mind.

Eriol scooched away, being wary of the lockers this time, "That's okay."

Syaoran sighed and twisted his neck around, getting rid of the cricks in his neck, "What I _meant_ was that I'm a little stressed out this week. I haven't been getting too much sleep these days." He was just worried about how things were going, he explained. Then he tripped over a trash bag someone had left in the hall.

"WHO THE HELL LEFT THIS DAMN TRASHBAG IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FREAKING FLOOR?" he snarled and slammed a fist against the locker.

Emma poked her head out from behind a door, a grin on her face, "SO THAT'S where my bag went!" she muttered to herself. Syaoran gave a strangled cry and started to run after her. All hell had truly broken loose, it seemed.

He and Pyro had even started something of a food fight during lunch. So when he had gotten home he'd had banana pudding streaked over the front of his shirt. Pyro had gotten him with the spoon and created something like a catapult filled with pudding. It had pretty much only taken one foot the size of a thumbtack to launch his ammo into Syaoran before the guardian had a chance to realize what was going on. Talk about a wake-up call.

It went on like this for the rest of the day and when he finally made it home, he had never felt so happy to go to bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow, unconsciousness pulled him under.

The dream, this time had become more vivid.

_"Sakura!" Syaoran gasped for air and ran faster, the soles of his boots trampling over various dead leaves and sticks as he made his way along. Then behind him a stick cracked and he twisted around. The moon shone brilliantly in the forest clearing, but tonight the moon was far from beautiful. Tonight it glared down on the forest, casting an eerie glow on all that it touched. _

_Syaoran looked around him, searching desperately for some sign of where she could be. In the distance a hill loomed ominously. Immediately, Syaoran recognized the hill as Yanagihara Hill. He had camped in the park when his father had taken him to Japan as a child for a family trip. However, before he could do anything further the dream ended as abruptly as it had begun. _

Syaoran sat up slowly and leaned back against the bedpost, his mind spinning. Man, something was seriously wrong. He couldn't stop dreaming. He couldn't escape from that nightmare. Then he realized that he was agonizing over this again and launched himself out of his bed like a rocket. He had to do something to take his mind off of this. Maybe talking to someone would help. He needed to get out and take his mind off of things.

He walked over to the phone by his door and dialed Sakura's number.

"Moshi moshi Kinomoto Sakura," Sakura's voice answered on the 2nd ring. Syaoran's stomach flipped and he knew that it was a good thing he'd called her.

"Sakura! This is Syaoran," he said and she gave a cry of joy.

"Syaoran! It's good to hear from you," she told him and he grinned.

"Sooooo, I was just wondering," he bit his lip. "Would you like to go…hang out with us tonight? The Hiiragizawas (father and his annoying son), Tomoyo, and me? Maybe we can go see a movie or something. End of the World," there was an indignant cry from somewhere above his head and Syaoran rolled his eyes. "And the maggots?"

Sakura burst out laughing, "That's kind of ironic, Syaoran seeing as we're trying to prevent the End from coming," Her laugh sounded something like tinkling bells, he observed with a surge of pleasure.

"That's kind of ironic, Syaoran seeing as we're trying to prevent the End from coming! Actually, I can't tonight. My family and I are taking a camping trip tonight!"

As soon as she had set it, Syaoran was drenched with cold fear and froze.

"What? Where!" he croaked.

"Oh, Yanagihara Park!" she trilled. "This is our second time here and it feels so good to be back again." The moment Syaoran heard this he dropped the phone, picked up his jacket and ran for the garage as fast as his feet could carry him.

"Syaoran? Syaoran?"

---------------------------------------------

"So tell me again _where_ we are going and _why_ did we steal your mom's car?"

"Isn't Aunt Yelan going to get mad if we do this?" Gabriel's voice trembled anxiously from the back seat and Syaoran shot him an incredulous look.

"You know my mom?" he asked and Gabriel nodded.

"You're going to be my uncle!" the boy said as if it were obvious.

Syaoran looked at the road and then back at his future nephew, "Really? Oh my god…are you one of my sisters' kids?"

"ARGH! KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!" Eriol wailed when a squirrel scampered across their path. "We're in the freaking WOODS at NIGHT and you're DRIVING!"

On the dashboard Aquia wandered around looking at the little lever that climbed higher and higher. Then she turned to Eriol and asked, "What's that?" The little meter now pointed 89.

"HOLY COW SYAORAN SLOW DOWN! YOU'RE GONNA TURN US INTO A MERCEDES PRETZEL WRAPPED AROUND A TREE!" Eriol pounded his fists on dashboard in front of the passenger seat. WHY did he have to sit in the front?

"Hey!" Syaoran snapped returning his gaze back to the road, "No backseat driving, now shut the hell up and sit back!"

"We're gonna die...We're gonna die.." Eriol muttered with his nose pressed up against the glass, eyes clenched shut.

"Actually I'm quite surprised," Tomoyo said and leaned forward from the back. "You drive really well, Syaoran. How long have you had your license?"

Gabriel turned to look at her, a little surprised, "Uncle Syaoran used to have a license? He told me he never HAD one..." he said, his voice trailing off suggestively.

For a moment the silence in the car was deafening as Gabriel's words sank in. Syaoran sweatdropped.

_Hehe, oh well_.

Eriol started yelling, "I WANT OUT! LEMME OUT! You don't have a license! Let me out!"

Gaia started laughing hysterically and swung around on the pair of fuzzy dice that hung near the rearview mirror.

"No really, Uncle Syaoran. Where ARE we going?" Gabriel asked as Eriol began to hyperventilate.

"Yanagihara Park. I-I had a bad dream. About Sakura. I mean, didn't really think anything of it until she said she said that she was going camping. My dream had to do with her in the forest. And it's not he first dream that I've ever had about her, either," he added.

Tomoyo frowned and didn't stop patting Skye belly. He'd had a stomachache since the dance after sucking the punchbowl dry. (BURP).

"So Sakura could be in trouble?" she whispered.

Syaoran's grip on the steering wheel tightened visibly, his knuckles white, "I think so," he said, his voice low.

Eriol used the flashlight he held in his mouth to scan the large map. "Jhe pak shood be righbou…DER!" he pointed to a trail to the right and Syaoran obeyed.

(Pyro went up close to the flashlight in Eriol's mouth, causing it to light up in his mouth and Aquia burst out laughing to the point she fell into the dashboard compartment. Eriol spit the flashlight out of his mouth in bewilderment. Then threw the map in the compartment over Aquia's head and closed it with a sharp snap.)

"What's that?" Tomoyo pointed to a large shape on the side of the road. As they neared closer they came to realize that it was a car with a person sitting on it. Someone had beaten them to the park.

Then the headlights of the car flashed upon the shadow person and their car. Takana Emma sat on the hood of a black car tapping her flashlight on the hood impatiently. There appeared to be another person in the car.

Unnerved, Syaoran spun the wheel so that the car fishtailed around and then skidded to a halt about a half breath away from Emma's front bumper. Eriol's head fell onto his chest, breathing hard. Gabriel gave a whoop from the back, "That was fricking AWESOME!"

Tomoyo could only smile and agree. Eriol looked ready to puke. The spirits ricocheted around the car excitedly.

Emma rolled her eyes, "Took _you_ long enough to get here," she muttered darkly.

Syaoran got out of the car and slammed the door shut. "What the hell are _you_ doing here in the middle of the night?" it was more of an accusation than a question.

Unperturbed, Emma raised an eyebrow. The tapping on the hood became more insistent. "You got a problem with me sitting on my car in the woods during a weekend, Syaoran?" she drawled.

Syaoran growled in his throat, "Don't play stupid," he hissed. "What are you doing here in here in the middle of nowhere? Did you follow Sakura?"

Emma rolled her eyes as Syaoran walked closer, "I'm not a stalker, if that's what you're trying to imply. I'm simply here for the view. Is that such a crime? Get off my back!"

From inside the car, a male voice called out, "Will you freaking get to the point! We're on your side, damn it." Syaoran craned his head around and saw the boy who had been hanging around with Emma the night when they had first met Ryou, his feet on dashboard and headphones on his head. Emma frowned and sent the boy a very rude gesture.

"Says who?" Syaoran growled. "What the hell are you talking about? Stop playing games before I come over there and..."

"Hey hey! Get in line buddy! I've had dibs on her after the little stunt she pulled," the boy in the passenger's seat got out of the car and put a hand on Emma's shoulder. Syaoran's eyes narrowed.

The young man was very tall and wore a heavy black trench coat over a black t-shirt, and tight black pants with a belt studded with silver stars. Several large and thick metal rings clanked on his belt and on his wrists. The young man's pitch-black hair seemed to have gotten longer, his eyes bluer. His skin was as pale as ever and contrasted a little too well against the black lipstick he wore. His style was very Gothic but the feelings that Tomoyo could sense beneath that exterior were anything but dark.

Emma's eyes didn't waver from Syaoran's though, and she smirked, "You're the Seeker, right?"

There was a pause and suddenly everything seemed to change in a matter of seconds. The atmosphere reeked of confusion and alarm. The situation, more serious.

At this point, Eriol, Tomoyo, and Gabriel got out of the car, "You know about the Seeker?" Tomoyo asked.

Emma grinned, "I know about the Seeker," she agreed. I'm a Protector. It's my job as a member of the TriArch."

"The TriArch?" Syaoran's eyebrows shot up. "Is that like some kinna cult, or gang?"

"No," Gabriel shook his head. "Not Triad, the Chinese mafia, Uncle. The TriArch is the group of protectors employed by the Prophet for the Guardians at the End of Time. They have special abilities specifically for fighting. They're on our side."

"Yeah!" Emma chimed. "You hear that, you hot-headed jackass? YOUR SIDE. Now stop hounding me like I'm gonna jump you or something!"

"Can you blame me? You've been trying to jump me since you first came to the school," he grumbled.

Emma's eyes narrowed and a wide grin crossed her face. She leaned over on the hood, closer to Syaoran, who turned red, "You actually believed that? Well hate to burst your bubble, honey but you're not my type. I have very interesting taste, and you're _definitely_ not it. Be assured. Your innocence is safe from me."

"No kidding," the young man besides Emma shifted uncomfortably and eyed Eriol, something that Tomoyo didn't miss.

"Who_ are_ you anyway? I never got around to asking you," Syaoran asked and the young man's icy blue eyes returned to Syaoran's.

"My name is Skye. Sukayo, if you want. I'm a part of the TriArch too," he introduced himself.

"Why are you a TriArch? Doesn't 'tri' mean three? I only see two of you," Tomoyo noticed.

"Oh, _there's_ three of us," Skye assured her, "She's asleep in the back of the car." And he led the rest of the group towards the back of the car where a little girl with long black hair dressed in a large black dress with white lace was fast asleep. Her fingernails had been painted black, like the other two TriArch members and were wrapped securely around a small blue ball that was designed to be a replica of the world.

Tomoyo remarked that the girl was cute and Skye laughed quietly, "Her name's Meredith. If you think she's cute _now_, wait till you see her awake!" he didn't seem to imply she was cuter when she was awake. It was quite the opposite.

"So, tell us more about the TriArch," Syaoran said as they made their way back to where Emma was lounging on car hood, using a jackknife to clean her fingernails.

"Exactly what the boy said," Emma didn't look up from her nails. "The boy from the future, right?" Speaking to Gabriel who only nodded. "Yeah, well you're right. Skye, Meredith, and myself were chosen specifically by the Prophet to protect the Guardians in any time of need. As the TriArch we were…blessed, if you will, with the power to magically and in some ways physically overcome the cohorts of Chaos. And today is prophecized to be something called the Battle of the End. The day when the end will descend on Earth and destroy all of humanity. We're meant to deal with any cohorts that get in your way so that you can deal with the big cheese himself. Chaos. "

"You haven't been doing your job then becau…" Syaoran's voice trailed off when he saw Emma's eyes flash dangerously. He took a step back just in time to dodged the jackknife she flung into the dirt.

"Because I couldn't stop Ryou from transferring into our school? Didn't see the jerk too much though, did you?" she hissed. She had a point there, Syaoran admitted.

"Look Syaoran, I'm trying my best so why don't you just get the hell off my back! I never was your enemy. It was just an excuse to stay close enough to watch you all and it worked! Whatever happened between us in the cafeteria, or anywhere for that matter, was jus' me doing what I had to in order to keep the situation in control. I'm just a member of the TriArch stationed in the school doing her job and if you have a problem with that you can just shove it up your—"

"Okay y'know what?" Skye interrupted them, sounding annoyed. "You idiots can BOTH shove it because we have better things to talk about! Like the Guardian of Earth. She's in trouble, isn't she? We've got to do something about her. She's the Bringer of Salvation. Only _she_ can summon the one thing powerful enough to push back Chaos forever. She's our only Ace-in-the-hole, so we gotta protect her with all we've got."

Syaoaran's anger towards Emma fizzled out and he nodded. Skye was right.

"I've had a dream about her being attacked in the forest and she just so happens to go camping," Syaoran admitted.

Skye nodded as Emma jumped off the car and began to pace nervously, muttering under her breath. "Yeah, Meredith's been having dreams like that too. Though it was more from your perspective," he said dryly. "The kid's a telepath and dream caster," he added when Tomoyo gave him a questioning look.

"So what should we do?" Gabriel asked nervously.

"_We_ don't do anything. _You_ and the spirits stay in the car and we're going to find Sakura to see that she's okay," Eriol said sternly. Gabriel flushed red in anger.

"NO! I'm supposed to come with you! This isn't right!" he cried.

Emma frowned, "Sorry, sweetie but he's right. You're not goin' nowhere far's we're concerned." Syaoran nodded and Tomoyo grabbed Gabriel in a swift hug.

"We'll come back as soon as we know Sakura-chan is okay," she said softly and stroked the boy's head. Almost hesitantly, Gabriel wrenched himself away from her embrace.

"I-I'll be _fine!_" he spluttered and then jumped into Emma's car, taking the sprites in their pouch with him.

Then together the others ran into the woods with Emma leading the way.

--------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in a cottage not too far away Sakura sighed and fell backwards into the sofa. Outside she could her the sound of her father and brother Touya starting up the car. They were just going for a short drive to pick up some supplies for breakfast tomorrow morning. Sakura felt around around the sofa and found up a small, yellow winged bear beside her.

"Ah, Kero-chan. It's just you and me now, ne?" she smiled and tossed the bear into the air a little. The poor bear flew into the air and into her hands…into the air and into her hands…into the air…

_BANG!_

Sakura's eyes widened and she sat up quickly. The bear fell to the floor forgotten, as she stood up to find out what had made the noise outside. It was probably just another raccoon-san who'd run face-first into the trashcan again.

Sakura's house slippers echoed loudly throughout the house as shefelt her way into the kitchen.

"Hello?" she called feeling her way along the walls. If it were daytime, it was unlikely that any sun would be able to make it into the rooms, so everything to Sakura was nothing more than darkness. Most of the timeshe could seetheshadows of objects around her if there was enough light.That wouldn't happen in this cottage. It made her feel vulnerable, and she hated it. The house was very tight and closed in. However the tension that wafted throughout the house seemed to vibrate off the walls. Her body absorbed this tension, the silence making her feel as if a razor were being traced down the length of her spine.

Sakura felt something hard and cold under her fingers and yanked it back in surprise. She had made it to the door. Shivering, not with the cold, she reached out one hand trembling and grasped the handle. Then she was outside.

_CRACK! _

She jumped swiveled around, her hand flying to the key on the chain around her throat. Sakura held her breath and then searched for a sign of an aura around her. Then she let out a large sigh of breath. Raccoon-san had indeed returned. She smiled in relief at the purple aura on the ground. The color of confusion. But when he looked up at her the purple aura suddenly turned green, the color of fear and sickness and he scampered away.

There was no warning and then next thing she knew, someone had seized her by the shoulders and whipped her around. Sakura let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"So Guardian of Earth, we meet again," a male voice she didn't recognize drawled. Sakura turned pale and struggled to free herself, jerking this way and that in the hopes that the man, who ever he was would let go of her. Like all men, he was much stronger than she had expected and he only gripped her tighter, his hands like an iron vise. The man laughed derisively at her feeble attempts at escape.

Then she had reached out and sent a stinging slap to his face and he abruptly stopped laughing.

"LET ME GO!" she shrieked clawing at his arms and face, anything that she could reach. Instead he held her body away from his. Only once did she hit her mark. When she raked her fingers down his cheek he hissed in fury. Finally he lost his patience and seized her by the throat.

"I don't think so, cherry blossom," the man hissed. "You see, I have a problem. I can't have the Guardian of Earth screwing up everything Chaos has planned for you pathetic _humans_. I can't have _you_ living…" Sakura's gasped for air as the man lifted her up into the air.

_No…no…this can't be happening…I can't reach my Key...no!_

Frustration and terror crawled in her body like a swarm of fire ants, licking at her resolve. Tears pooled in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

"NO!" Suddenly fire collided with the man's shoulder. Another fireball came his way, but the man managed to catch it in his fist this time. It seemed he also had the power of fire. His face twisted into a mask of fury and Sakura felt a small shred of hope blossom in her heart.

The man turned around agonizingly slowly, his grip on her throat unwavering. Syaoran's aura pulsed with fury as hestood at the mouth of the forest. She could sense that he was absolutely livid with fury. His hands, which were clenched into fists at his side, were on fire.

"Let…her…GO," he said, his low voice cold. Then Eriol, Tomoyo, Emma, and the aura of a young man she didn't recognize emerged from the forest behind Syaoran.

"SAKURA!" Tomoyo cried.

Ryou grinned, "So the knight in shining armor comes to the rescue," he drawled.

"If it isn't the big bad wolf. Y'know what happens to HIM, eh?" Syaoran growled in return, a horrible grin on his face. As if on cue, the aura around him ignited with fire like gas to a flame. Emma fell back with a curse and Skye stepped to the side quickly.

"Still a child," Ryou sighed and his grip tightened on Sakura's neck. Tomoyo shrieked.

"You want her, Guardian? Come and get her. Let's play a little game, you and me. First one to the top of Yanagihara Hill wins!" he declared and then disappeared.

Syaoran wasted no time and burst into motion, headed for the hill. Headed for the End. Tomoyo, Eriol, and the two members of the TriArch followed him without a moment of hesitation.

"Bring it on grandpa," Skye crowed, moving just as fast as everyone else but Syaoran.

Syaoran laughed raucously in agreement. Hell yes. Bring it on! he thought, a fire burning in his eyes.

* * *

Inside the car, back in the woods, Gabriel was sulking. 

"I don't believe this. Good God, I don't believe this!" he cried in anguish.

"I can't believe that they left me behind! This isn't how it's supposed to go! Dad said that I would _go_ with them. But noooo, I'm stuck here in the car with 4 hyper-active spirits (which cackled with glee), okaa-san did NOTHING to help me out there, and there's a catatonic 10-year old staring at me!" he yelled and shot Meredith (now awake and staring at him from the backseat of the TriArch's car) a dirty look. She didn't take the hint. "STOP it! You're freaking me out."

Meredith raised an eyebrow, "I'm twelve, you moron," she said flatly, speaking for the first time since she woke up about an hour and a half ago. Gabriel gave a shriek of frustration and burrowed himself backwards into the passenger seat.

"This is _not_ happening," he moaned, combing his fingers through navy locks.

"Someone has to talk to you," Meredith whispered from the back seat. Gabriel perked up. Really? He didn't hesitate to believe her as his mother had told him that the TriArch was to be trusted and had amazing abilities.

Sure enough, there was a faint chime and Gabriel hastily opened the jeweled little communication compact that acted as his means of communication between his family in the future.

In it, an older man in his middle thirties with spectacles stared back at him, panic and confusion clearly written on his face.

"Gabriel! What's happening over there? The sun has died out over here! What are you all doing? Is your mother okay?"

Gabriel sighed and quickly explained the situation. As he spoke, his father's face hardened.

"So your moment of truth is here."

"Er...hate to burst your bubble dad, but okaa-san and the others weren't exactly pleased with the idea of me joining them," he pointed out.

"I know! That was how it happened. Get your arse out there anyway! The Spirits have to do what they were created to do," Hiiragizawa Eriol snapped, his patience wavering under the stress being placed on his son,"The End is coming for us here and if you don't make it to the top of that hill and do what YOU came to do, the End will be resurrected!"

Gabriel went pale and his heart rate sped up for fear of what was to come. Now? It was time...now? It had come much faster than he'd thought.

Meredith lay a white hand on his shoulder comfortingly, "You'll be okay," she said quietly. "You know what has to be done and your sacrifice will not go unnoticed."

The boy's hand tightened on the communication device in his hands and his father looked at him, tears twinkling in his eyes. Suddenly Eriol looked very old. From behind a woman with her dark hair twisted into an elegant bun at the back of her head came to stand by her husband. She was crying too.

"We love you, Gabriel. D-Do what you have to do," Hiiragizawa Tomoyo whispered, her voice trembling. Then the image of his parents faded and Gabriel closed the communication device with a snap.

"It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay," he whispered under his breath. He was trying not to hyperventilate but it was kind of hard, considering. He took out the sack that held the four spirits, quiet for once.

"You keep telling yourself that," Meredith told him. There was no sarcasm in her voice.

Gabriel nodded and his face set into a grim, but determined one. He, Meredith, and the sack of spirits set out for the notorious Battle of the End. He had a job to do. Sacrifices were to be made. Lives were to be saved. And one way or another he was going to be a part of it. Come what may…

* * *

Meanwhile the other Guardians were trying their best to make it up the hill. Things were much more easier since the terrain was very dry and many of them seemed to have the hang of it but the journey was still strenuous. Eriol gasped for air and pulled Tomoyo up with him. 

"Syaoran! Remember when you said this was Yanagihara Hill? YOU HILL! NOT _MOUNTAIN!" _Eriol yelled from below the Guardian of fire.

Syaoran turned and grinned. There was no humor in his smile, "Learn to deal, Hiiragizawa," he retorted and continued to climb.

"Sukayo!" Emma called to her friend. "How much further?"

Sukayo, or Skye, grunted and pulled himself up on a ledge, right behind Syaoran, "We're here. Now we can run."

Eriol gasped and lifted himself up, the muscles in his legs screaming. "Here." He looked up to see Skye holding out a hand to help him up. When they had finally made it to the ledge Eriol saw that they still had quite a way to go. However instead of countless ledges to climb up, there was only land to run on. Only a hill. Behind him was a drop the size of at least 3 houses. Eriol set his jaw. Sakura was up there.

Skye was busy unhooking two metal rings that hung from his belt and took one in each hand. Emma took a deep breath.

"So the Battle of the End is starting, huh?"

A scream echoed in the air around them and no one dared to move.

Syaoran looked up quickly to see flashes of green, pink, and blueflashing at the top of the mountain above them.

"RELEASE!" Sakura cried.

Suddenly the earth began to shake and Tomoyo gasped, "No! Another earthquake?"

"And nowhere to hide," Skye echoed blankly.

"No," Emma whispered. "Not an earthquake."

Eriol's eyes widened, "Earth…slide." As soon as he finished the sentence a loud crack filled the air and rocks began to fall towards them at all angle.

"RUN!" Syaoran cried and then everyone was charging up the length of the hill struggling to avoid the rocks tumbled down the hill.

Emma cursed at the air and Skye slid to a halt on the grave sending up dusk in his wake, "NO!"

Syaoran's head whipped to the side to see the goth girl had stumbled on the loose gravel, one foot sprawled forth. A large boulder fell towards Emma just as she got up. Her shrieks of terror ripped through their hearts. There was a loud clap as the boulder collided with her and took her down the hill with it, smoke trailing behind it as it went over the ledge they had just come back to.

Tomoyo screamed and made to run after her. Skye grabbed Tomoyo around the waist firmly and hauled her back. "NO! Just keep running!" he cried, his voice cracking with emotion. "Don't worry about her!"

Syaoran's eyes widened as he continued to climb. Emma was dead…Emma had to be. She had gone over the edge. Unless the members of the TriArch weren't human she could not have possibly survived that fall. People were dying. People were getting hurt.

As if in reminder he looked up above him.

"DAMMIT GIRL GIVE UP!" Ryou's voice rang out as he battled Sakura.

They were getting closer Syaoran could already see Sakura had projected a shield in front of her using the wand that she used to control or use the Clow Cards. Good for her, he grinned in smug satisfaction. Let's see that bastard get past _that_. It didn't seem as thought Ryou's efforts were very successful either. His face was tight with rage while he hit Sakura's shield with his power over and over again, seeking entrance. Seeking to kill her. Syaoran would never let that happen.

Then, about 50 feet from the niche at the top of the mountain where Sakura and Ryou were fighting, Syaoran noticed something lurking in the darkness behind Sakura. A trickle of fear went down his spine. Someone was creeping up on Sakura from behind and she was too enthralled, too concentrated on keeping up her shield to sense it.

"NO!" he gasped.

Upon sensing his fear Sakura turned to face him, startled. For that one moment he looked into her eyes and saw fear reflecting in blank pools of emerald. It only took that one moment for her to lose her concentration. Sakura's shield melted away before her. Sensing this, Ryou gave a cry of triumph and then with his power pushed with all his might.

The wave of power flowed over and filled the little cave with a bright blue light. Syaoran watched in horror as Ryou's power collided with and overpowered Sakura's. She flew backwards into the air with a scream, over the edge of the hill. A bright blue light exploded in the sky, making everyone fall to his or her knees, overwhelmed with the immense power. When that light faded, Sakura was nowhere to be seen.

"SAKURAAAAAAAAA!" Syaoran cried out her name in anguish and slammed his fists on the ground, his heart torn apart, overcome with grief.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, yes…a cliffhanger. So sorry…okay not really. But I will be sure to continue posting. This story's goin till the END people! I made it THIS far so there's NOOOO way im giving up. Just please review. I need em. It's my encouragement. Mother's milk, I guess. Whatever.

But you can see why this thing took me so freaking long. This last one was pretty long! I'd if it's as long as my Winter Love Story chapters that im putting together (E+T! yay!) but it's pretty damn long for 10 pages, I'll tell you that much.

Also pretty evident was Syaoran's attitude in this one. I felt that ive been softening him up too much. Like his personality is pretty different from chapter one, so I needed to bring the gangster back. Well, I tried. Does that happen to a lot of other writers too? Eh, I don't know.

Anyway im not going to be putting anymore shout outs. Don't worry I still love you all dearly but ive suddenly discovered the beauty of REPLY button. I cant believe I couldn't find it before. Stupid me.

Syaoranlol had a point when she reminded me that Sakura was supposed to be blind so I had to go back and edit a little here and there in places where I made it seem like she could see things. I'm sorry about that. Thanks syaoranlol for reminding me! your reviews are always very much appreciated. I woulda told you in person but...er...there's no reply button XD.

as for sakura's sight, it's kinna like she can only see the dark. she can make out a sofa like it's a dark shadow, for example. but if it's something that's living, it'll look like the profile of a person a certain color, depending on their current mood. Purple if they're confused, green if they're sick or scared, blue if they're calm and so on. some auras are just so powerful she can feel it without looking. that's pretty much only people with magic, tho. emma and the TriArch are a different story. their aura doesnt show itself for protective purposes.

Well that's all for now! I hope this chapter was to your liking! Review review review and let me know. Flames are always welcome too!


	15. AUTHOR'S NOTE jus an AN '

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE -------**_ _hahahah, i kno most of you people hate it when authors do this (you know howyou get your hopes up only to find it's a stupid note?lol) but i couldnt help it XD ive been dying to say somethin!_

hey to all those readers who are still waiting for the nextchapter. well im not writing this to tell you that im cancelling the story (hahaha im barely tempted to give UP psh!). actually i just wanted you all to know that after a short break (okay a 3-month one -.-) that im back in the game! that last two mothers of chapters kinna shorted me out for a while but im getting back to work! this story is almost over andi couldnt be more proud! thank you all to those still holding on. :) im working on chapter 15 and will no doubt be posting as soon as i can within this month! now that im taking a short break (VERY short) from Twilight and jumping back into CCS.

so here's a recap that you continue to request, it being so long that i update. to refresh! see you all soon! (waves madly)

--mjcullen

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* * *

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_**Recap!**_

_Characters_-

Syaoran: Guardian of Fire and Seeker (formerly known as Pyro in his other life as a God of Fire), has totally got it bad for Sakura.

Eriol: Guardian of Sky (Once called Ciel), seems to like Tomoyo.

Tomoyo: Guardian of Water (AKA Lady Cordelia in her former life). Is the future mother of Eriol's children Gabriel and Mina.

Sakura: Guardian of Earth (Whose name was always Sakura) Just transferred to Tomoeda. She collects the Clow Cards and is also the Guardian of Earth. Has been medically certified as blind but her overwhelmingly keen senses allow her to see the auras and shadows of those around her in accordance to magic and mood and shape. Only she has the power to unleash the entity that will save the world, Salvation.

Hiiragizawa Gabriel: Eriol's future son. Looks just like his father. Came to Tomoeda for a specific reason he refuses to discuss, but it is now clear that he will play a big role in the fate of the world. His future mother is Daidouji Tomoyo.

Ryou: A henchman of Chaos. Sicced four evil creatures on the Guardians in Ch11. Definitely evil. He kidnapped Sakura in the last chapter and fought with her on Yanagihara Hill before he ended up throwing her off

Kotoko: Another henchman of Chaos. She tried to kill Tomoyo, but failed. Has the power of earth and water.

The TriArch: A secret organization of three people with very special abilities chosen by the Prophet to protect the Guardians and fight against any cohorts of Chaos during the Battle of the End (the prophesized day of Chaos' attack). Takana Emma, Skye (or Sukayo) and Meredith are the members of this organization. Both Emma and Ryou are classmates of the Guardians, while Meredith, a stoic 12-year old, has the ability to dream cast and is also telekinetic. All the members of the TriArch seem to be a small, but closely knit gothic family.

Babysitter/ Chips: Messenger sent by the Prophet that is really annoying and seemed useless until he helped rescue Tomoyo. He actually has a serious, deadly side to him. Has not been seen or heard from for some time.

the Prophet: The Chief Messenger of God, in charge of guiding the Guardians and all other affairs pertaining to Chaos' attempt on the world. He/She usually sits in the dark on an eerie looking throne. He appears to look like a 10-year old boy with feathery white hair, glasses and almond shaped eyes that change color every few seconds wearing a large white cloak covered with holy sigils.

the Spirits/Sprites: Four mischievous beings, each made of their own element, that only those with magic can see. Fire: Pyro. Sky: Skye, Water: Aquia, Earth: Gaia.

_The Story Thus Far:_

Syaoran definitely had just work cut out for him when the divine being known as the Prophet ordered him to find the 4 Guardians who were destined to save the world from the power of Chaos. But even after finding the Guardians and even Hiiragizawa Eriol's son from the future, Gabriel, things weren't getting any better. Now Syaoran has come to find that Kinomoto Sakura is the "Bringer of Salvation" as the Guardian of Earth and the _only_ person with the power to unleash Salvation, the one and only tool that can save the world, and finally bring Chaos' rampage to an end. Of course things don't go so smoothly and Syaoran's nightmares about Sakura seem to be coming true. Worried for her safety he, the other guardians, and the TriArch rush to protect her. But in the end, Ryou kidnaps Sakura and eventually throws her off the mountain, undoubtedly killing her.


	16. Rage

Hey everyone! Wow it's been a while since I worked on this story. I mean it's not that ive been IDLE. I started! I started it right after submitting last time! But after submitting those two humongous (well for ME) chapters I totally CCS-ed myself out lol. So I took break and dove into Twilight fan fics (the Stephenie Meyer variety doncha know!). well now that im back check out the AUTHOR'S note I posted before this to see the recap if any of you forgot what happened before this chapter and need to refresh your memories!

Well, I won't be giving much away when I say that this is a fight chapter. All that goes on from here on out (haha as far as you all know) is the Battle of the End. So it's all blood and curses, and people getting knocked around. The battle IS messy so perspectives in this chapter are going to be EVERYWHERE! There are so many different perspectives I had to jump from to tell the story that I eventually gave up separating them. Just think in the movies how everyone is yelling back and forth to their comrades on the battlefield as they fight against the enemy. Sorry bout the confusion, but try to keep up, ne?

DISCLAIMER: Syaoran….Eriol…CCS, why couldn't you be mine and not CLAMP'S? (sob)

**--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 16...Rage**

Syaoran stared at the sky blankly as salty tears trailed down his cheeks. His heart pounded in his chest loudly. He could hardly dare to believe it. It was so _impossible_. Had it even HAPPENED? Had Sakura literally gone over the edge?

Had Sakura really…died?

Inside he felt his world shatter.

"NO! NO! NO!" he slammed his fists into the dry terrain over and over again. "YOU ASSHOLE!" he screamed into the sky, his voice raw with pain.

Kami-sama, his sorta crap wasn't supposed to be happening in real life! Not to him. But did he ever get a normal life?

No, he grit his teeth and ground his fist into the dirt ad propelling himself forward at the same time.

Inside he felt the last fiber of come unfurled.

It was then that the Battle of the End began.

He didn't even realize that he had flung himself up. All he realized in the next moment was that he had thrown himself into a fight against Ryou, thrusting fistfuls of raw power at the young man in his rage.

Startled, Ryou grimly brought up a shield of defense under Syaoran's relentless attack.

Finally the Guardian stopped, his chest heaving. There was no possible way that he could see the tendrils of his fiery and untamed aura that seemed to fill the tiny cage with his rage. Not even the fists clenched at his sides glowed as brightly as the embers that burned in his eyes, seeking release with the Guardian of Fire's fierce rage.

"You…BASTARD," he spat. "You just couldn't leave a damn well enough ALONE! You couldn't leave HER alone! I'm going to KILL you!" he emphasized this last word by hurling a bolt of fire at the shield.

"_I _couldn't leave well enough alone?" Ryou retorted incredulously. "Who told you to be the hero, Li Xiao Lang? Who told you go and fall in LOVE with the bitch?"

"SHUT UP!" Syaoran shrieked. His eyes were as wild as his power now. "Don't you EVER call me that! You don't know SHIT about LOVE!"

Syaoran only stood there silently fuming. He wasn't lost for words. Instead he was too pissed off to comment. He didn't have to answer to the jerkoff, he decided. It was an utter waste of breath and he was going to need all the power he could get.

What he needed now was actions not words. He eyes flashed.

"What's wrong, XIAO LANG you too sca—!"

_FSSSSHHHHH! PANG!_

Ryou suddenly bit his words off when what looked like bright blue fire exploded between them, causing both young men to jump apart suddenly to avoid being scorched to a cinder like the boulder beside them.

"You just shut the HELL up Jung Lee Ryou," Skye snarled and flung the thick metal ring in his left hand at the ground. It rebounded off the ground igniting blue sparks of fire that blazed brightly as it ricocheted around the tiny cave, the metal ringing loudly every time it hit something.

Syaoran dove for cover when the ring came dangerously close to taking his head off.

"WATCH WHERE YOU THROW THAT DAMN THING!" he roared and threw yet another fistful of fire at Ryou's barrier.

Skye ignored the Guardian. He threw the metal ring that he'd been holding in his right hand with a grunt.

Ryou yelled in outrage and frustration. His protective barrier was slowly starting to give way to Skye's power over metal and fire. Every time the metal rings collided with his barrier they grated against the surface instead of rebounding like Syaoran's power had done.

His barrier was slowly weakening and it wouldn't be long before the TriArch youth broke through it.

And eventually his barrier broke.

"DAMN IT!" Ryou cursed as the barrier collapsed. The power that had been compressed within the shield was so great that it sent up billows of dust all around the cave. Immediately a thick layer of dust surrounded him and blinded him.

Muttering darkly under his breath he held up his hand and called up both an orb of light and a soft breeze.

"_There!"_

Then a black figure was upon him, having emerged out of the billowing dust out of nowhere to land a punch on him that set the sacred robes hanging from his shoulders ablaze with a bright blue fire.

"Shit," he cursed.

Ryou staggered backwards and opened his mouth to utter a spell. Instead, a hot torrent of fire hit him square in the chest and sent him flying into the wall with a loud _thud._

By then, the dust had cleared enough for him to see that both the TriArch boy and the Guardian of Fire had cornered him up against the wall.

"Skye!" Tomoyo yelled out somewhere to the only present member of the TriArch who was currently in the process of rolling up the long sleeves of his black trench coat. 3 thick metal rings were looped around the more slender part of two heavily tattooed, but powerful white arms.

It was grim understanding that Syaoran understood that Skye was just getting warmed up. He hated thinking this, but it fit perfectly. It was time to bring out the big guns now.

Ryou caught a flash of metal on the goth boy's knuckles. He realized that the boy was wearing metal rings on his fingers and a few silver knuckle rings as well to inflict more pain when he punched.

The TriArch youth smirked upon noticing his gaze, "You liked that didn't you?" he murmured softly referring to the attack that he had sprung. "Have some more, Ryou."

Chaos' youngest cohort grit his teeth.

It looked like the rumors were true. Like all others behind him who were a part of Chaos' great plan, he had heard a lot about the 2nd oldest member of the TriArch named Skye. The boy was usually the tall, silent shadow of Emma Takana (leader of the TriArch). But when he _was_ angry he dealt with his enemies with cold, quick, and efficient precision, like the metal he wielded.

Because Skye's power was rooted deeply within any sort of metal. He had the power to set any metal (which rumor had was usually silver) ablaze with a powerful bright blue fire, like his eyes. There was metal around his wrists, around his ankles, in the toes and heels of his boots, on every finger of his hands, and some had said around his neck as well. Not even the tattoos on his arms were benign, having been traced by the very fingers of Pain herself.

Ryou growled in his throat and discarded the now scorched robes onto the cave floor.

He wouldn't go down without a fight. He couldn't.

A memory flashed in his mind of a little girl with around the age of 7 with curly brown hair giggling as she threw a small blue ball into the air. His heart wrenched with pain at his loss. No…he couldn't give up. This world wasn't a world without her in it.

He couldn't give up.

One way or another, no matter what…the End WOULD descend upon them all!

With a new resolve he lifted his arms and screamed his agony, screamed his pain at the sister that had been cruelly wrenched away from him long ago.

The loss that gave him the anger and pain he needed to keep fighting. To destroy all the other assholes in the entire world like the men who had taken his little sister away from him forever.

This was the best way to do it.

Syaoran felt a sick twisted feeling at the bottom of his gut.

He's doing something.

He's calling something, Syaoran realized instinctively and immediately a memory from his past life flashed into his mind.

_He was standing on a tall stone platform, surrounded by darkness every time he turned. Again, he had lost Sakura to the End. Again he was alone. Lightning crashed and a storm raged above him as if in mourning. The world around him was broken and desolate. The remains of what had once been a happy, amazing, thriving world before the End had come lay around him in ruins._

_This was reason why he had agreed to be reincarnated again and again in history. _

_To prevent Chaos from winning no matter how many times it took._

_This devastation that lay _before_ him now, he had been thinking, was the reason why no matter how much he loved Sakura he would continue to forget her and the memories the led up to her death every time he was reborn into the world._

This_ was the End._

Can't let it happen…he gasped, coming back to reality.

Syaoran grunted and thrust an arm forth, sending a blast of power at Ryou. To his immediate horror the power was absorbed.

He blinked. What the HELL? What was that?

It looked as if Ryou was absorbing all the power around him. He screams seemed to drone on and on, breaking any silence that had been floating and probably freaking out any nearby campers.

"SHUT UP!" Syaoran yelled and threw another ball of fire at the screaming youth, with no success.

Shit shit shit. He turned around to look to see what Ryou was up to and saw the young man was rifling through his pockets with his hands clamped over his ears. A look of sharp pain creased the lines on his pale face.

"Have to—Have to shut him UP!" Skye roared.

"What is he DOING!"

"Calling!" Skye snapped back.

He pointed out of the tiny cave to where Tomoyo and Eriol seemed to be struggling against Kotoko's green onslaught of vines. In the skies above them a black cloud seemed to be descending on them. But after taking a closer look at things, Syaoran realized it wasn't a cloud, but a swarm of black winged creatures with tiny green, red, and even purple eyes.

Syaoran's eyes widened, Oh no…Was this the End?

As if reading his thoughts, Skye shook his head, "IT'S MORE COHORTS!" he yelled above Ryou's continued screaming. Then with a cry of his own he ran over to Ryou. Halfway there he launched himself into the air, tucked a leg beneath himself and delivered a silencing left hook to Ryou's jaw. Ryou's screams were abruptly cut off and he fell into a heap on the ground.

Skye landed on the ground and staggered to right himself, breathing hard, "That's right. Shut up!" he snarled.

Ryou grinned maliciously and his hand shot out, catching Skye off guard as a surge of electrical power sent the goth boy flying backwards and onto Syaoran (who cursed profusely).

Before either of them could react, Ryou was up and running out of the cave. Syaoran bit back a snarl and shoved Skye off him.

He couldn't let him get away. Not after what he did to her. Not after he had taken Sakura away from him.

But the moment he stepped out of the cave he saw that all HELL had broken loose. Atleast a hundred different battles were going on at the same time. From the battle with Ryou he was suddenly pulled into a war between human and er…thing. He was definitely outnumbered.

Thousands of the tiny winged creatures fell upon him, causing his knees to buckle for a moment with their weight.

Syaoran grit his teeth, and struggled wildly under there weight before his arms became limp at his side.

What would happen next? How the hell was he going to stop this thing…this End…in its path?

Could it be that no matter of fighting could push it back?

With Sakura gone what more could they hope to accomplish? What more could they do?

Was it merely the inevitable they were fighting against and not Chaos?

Yes, he realized with a sinking heart.

This was the End.

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After I came back and read my other chapters I realized how short many of them were before I had started writing chapters in font 8, verdana! So right now I say, guys, im so sorry lol!

When I read about this I kinda think that this was one perspective of the fight. I'm gonna remind you all in the next chapter about the constantly shifting perspectives too so just be ready for that. The next one's worse (cringes). This chapter was kind of like Syaoran and Ryou's fight/Skye. The next chapter will let us know what's going on in the fight between Kotoko, Eriol, and Tomoyo.

I know this was kind of short too but I can assure you that I will be updating the next chapter very soon this week. This is actually just one part of the big chapter I was working on, but after a while I realized that it was starting to confuse and frustrating. In the hopes that I could avoid that and discourage myself from finishing this (did I tell you all? I just finished the last chapter thanks to Kaede-chan! So we're pretty much finished aside from the fight scene! Yay:D)

Well, stick around for the next part! I'll be updating this week as soon as I possibly can. We're almost there people! Almost there!


	17. Tying Up Loose Ends

See, now wasn't that fast? Yes, well getting on with the story here we go! We're almost there people! Almost there! Hold on!

_**Recap!**_

_Characters_-

Syaoran: Guardian of Fire and Seeker (formerly known as Pyro in his other life as a God of Fire), has totally got it bad for Sakura.

Eriol: Guardian of Sky (Once called Ciel), seems to like Tomoyo. Is the future father of Gabriel.

Tomoyo: Guardian of Water (AKA Lady Cordelia in her former life). Is the future mother of Eriol's children Gabriel and Mina.

Sakura: Guardian of Earth (Whose name was always Sakura) Just transferred to Tomoeda. She collects the Clow Cards and is also the Guardian of Earth. Has been medically certified as blind but her overwhelmingly keen senses allow her to see the auras and shadows of those around her in accordance to magic and mood and shape. Only she has the power to unleash the entity that will save the world, Salvation. Is now the missing link to calling on Salvation.

Hiiragizawa Gabriel: Eriol's future son. Looks just like his father. Came to Tomoeda for a specific reason he refuses to discuss, but it is now clear that he will play a big role in the fate of the world. His future mother is Daidouji Tomoyo.

Ryou: A henchman of Chaos. Sicced four evil creatures on the Guardians in Ch11. Definitely evil. Is a young man whose past obviously haunts him. He kidnapped Sakura and fought with her on Yanagihara Hill before he ended up throwing her off.

Kotoko: Another henchman of Chaos. She tried to kill Tomoyo, but failed. Has the power of earth and water.

The TriArch: A secret organization of three people with very special abilities chosen by the Prophet to protect the Guardians and fight against any cohorts of Chaos during the Battle of the End (the prophesized day of Chaos' attack). Takana Emma, Skye (or Sukayo) and Meredith are the members of this organization. Both Emma and Ryou are classmates of the Guardians, while Meredith, a stoic 12-year old, has the ability to dream cast and is also telekinetic. Skye is well-known for his power with metal, which he brings fire to as well as for the tattoos on his arms, which increase pain. All the members of the TriArch seem to be a small, but closely knit gothic family. Emma was struck down as she came up Yanagihara Hill earlier on and has not been seen since.

Babysitter/ Chips: Messenger sent by the Prophet that is really annoying and seemed useless until he helped rescue Tomoyo. He actually has a serious, deadly side to him. Has not been seen or heard from for some time.

the Prophet: The Chief Messenger of God, in charge of guiding the Guardians and all other affairs pertaining to Chaos' attempt on the world. He/She usually sits in the dark on an eerie looking throne. He appears to look like a 10-year old boy with feathery white hair, glasses and almond shaped eyes that change color every few seconds wearing a large white cloak covered with holy sigils.

the Spirits/Sprites: Four mischievous beings, each made of their own element, that only those with magic can see. Fire: Pyro. Sky: Skye, Water: Aquia, Earth: Gaia.

_The Story Thus Far:_

Syaoran definitely had just work cut out for him when the divine being known as the Prophet ordered him to find the 4 Guardians who were destined to save the world from the power of Chaos. But even after finding the Guardians and even Hiiragizawa Eriol's son from the future, Gabriel, things weren't getting any better. Now Syaoran has come to find that Kinomoto Sakura is the "Bringer of Salvation" as the Guardian of Earth and the _only_ person with the power to unleash Salvation, the one and only tool that can save the world, and finally bring Chaos' rampage to an end. Of course things don't go so smoothly and Syaoran's nightmares about Sakura seem to be coming true. Worried for her safety he, the other guardians, and the TriArch rush to protect her. It is there at Yanagihara Hill where Ryou manages to throw Sakura off the mountain and kill her. In a rage, Syaoran (and eventually Skye) attack Ryou until Ryou calls a swarm of winged black demons and flees the scene. The Battle of the End has definitely started!

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Reminder: The battle IS messy so perspectives in this chapter are going to be EVERYWHERE! There are so many different perspectives I had to jump from to tell the story that I eventually gave up separating them. Just think in the movies how everyone is yelling back and forth to their comrades on the battlefield as they fight against the enemy.

Well, onto the story! Read on people read on! And please review!

**--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 17...Tying Up Loose Ends**

Syaoran groaned as the weight on his back doubled with each winged black creature that threw itself on his back. He'd meant to run after Ryou and _finish_ the fight that he and Skye had started together, but hadn't expected to be dive-bombed by a swarm of the things at one time.

They were freakin HEAVY. But they couldn't hold him for long.

Then with a grunt Syaoran flung his hands outward and sent out a wave of power, temporarily stunning the black winged creatures clinging to him like a thick layer of tar.

They jabbered and chattered angrily when he sent them flying and toppling over each other. When the dizziness his power had caused wore off they zipped back into the fight, pecking, biting and ripping at anything on Syaoran that they could touch.

Skye seemed to have taken off after Ryou and was nowhere to be found, leaving Syaoran to scorch as many little demons as he could alone.

Meanwhile, Tomoyo and Eriol were locked in a battle of their own and were struggling not to let the winged creatures distract them, but were failing miserably.

"Come on Guardians, is that all you can do! How pathetic!" Kotoko drawled, sounding disappointed. Tomoyo was so preoccupied with the tiny black creatures around her that she didn't notice the thick green trunk that coiled itself around her waist until it squeezed her tightly and lifted her high into the air. The Guardian of Water screamed and thrashed in its grip.

Syaoran whipped around quickly when he heard his friend scream and thrust his palm forth.

"Ah ah ah!" Kotoko raised a finger to stop him. "You don't wanna burn your little friend to a crisp do you? You know what kind of wood they used to used in America when they wanted to give witches like her a long and painful death? Green wood." The same kind of wood that was holding onto Tomoyo.

The Guardian of Fire grit his teeth and unleashed the power onto the ground where it flared up, "Bitch," he spat. Then he sprang at her. She turned around and swatted him away like a fly.

Eriol yelled as another green trunk knocked him unconscious and sent him tumbling off the edge of Yanagihara Hill.

"ERIOL!" Tomoyo shrieked.

"_STOP_!" Gabriel seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. He yelled and whipped his arm out. Kotoko wailed when the trunk that was twisted around Tomoyo pulsed dark blue and exploded.

Tomoyo let out a gasp for air and fell on her knees. Gabriel pulled his mother away from Kotoko. When he had dragged her farther, he pointed and called out a word of power.

"You—You shouldn't be…!" Tomoyo tried to chide him breathlessly while he continued to drag her away from Chaos' loyal follower with steadfast desperation.

Kotoko shrieked and dove to the side, "YOU LITTLE FREAK!" she shrieked. Tomoyo was even more desperate now to struggle to her feet, despite any injuries she had received (which was hard to tell because she was wearing long jeans and a blue blouse).

"Syaoran!" a tiny voice called out.

Syaoran jerked his head back in the flurry of winged creatures still looking to bite a chunk out of him (he already had at least 20 sores on his bodies from their stupid teeth anyway). His eyes nearly bugged out when he saw Skye waving his chubby little hands like windmills. Beside him Gaia was hovering silently watching the chaos around them anxiously.

"You aren't supposed to be here!" he snapped and tried to snatch the sprites out of the air before the black winged creature that had had its beady eyes on them could get to the sprites first.

"They are. All four spirits of the elements and all four Guardians must be here for Salvation to be possible," Meredith said in a monotone not too far behind him. Syaoran whirled around his eyes accusing. Then he realized that she was fending perfectly well by herself.

A sort of dark aura that reeked of death hung around Meredith and the ball she held in her dainty hands was levitating between her palms spinning faster and faster. Any winged creatures that got too close to her dropped dead instantly. She was a member of the TriArch and had been born to fight Chaos since the beginning.

Sakura and Eriol…

Syaoran's face crumpled in defeat, "Then Salvation is a lost cause. We're missing two Guardians!" then he remembered Tomoyo and turned to help. Meredith snatched his hand.

"No! You can't interfere. What happens must happen for Salvation to come. Everything is as it should be. Gabriel and the Guardian of Water are meant to fight alone, for now. We have to do what we can to prepare for the coming of Salvation." She pointed to an area high above the cave. "We have to go over there."

Syaoran was confused, "What? I don't think you heard me but…"

"I don't think _you_ heard _me._ Salvation _will_ come," she said softly.

He shook his head hard and glared at her, "You're freakin nuts! Can't you SEE? WE HAVE ONE GUARDIAN DEAD AND POSSIBLY ANOTHER ONE IS FREAKING MISSING IN ACTION!" he yelled at the young girl, not really caring if he would hurt her feelings. He was beyond caring after what was happening now.

"THEY'RE GONE! THAT MEANS OUR CHANCES OF SALVATION ARE UTTERLY SCREWED! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT? I NEED TO HELP MY FRIENDS IF I DON'T WANNA LOSE MORE! NOW GET. OUT. OF. MY. WAY. I can't just STAND here and watch anymore people DIE!"

He was so sick of it all. He was sick of people dying, and sick of having to play the hero. He wanted it all to just end, get Tomoyo and Gabriel out of here before anyone else got hurt! Why couldn't this little girl GET it? He thought angrily.

Meredith turned to glare at him, her eyes stony. She looked annoyed and maybe a little impatient. He felt fear hit him in the stomach. His body began to move forward of its own accord in the direction that she had pointed. The little bits of gravel on the ground around them began to lift off the terrain as if gravity had suddenly disappeared.

"I'm SORRY for your loss, Pyro. But we're talking about the end of civilization and plainly I couldn't give a _crap_ if you're hurting. Fight it," she hissed. She was like a volcano ready to burst and she dealt with him in the cold but precise manner of a mature adult. She was talking business. "Now I will need your unquestioned cooperation if we're going to stop all this. Is that _clear_?"

She gave him a look that told Syaoran to refuse might just annoy her further.

At the steely look in her eyes he reluctantly nodded in resignation. He took one last look at where Eriol had fallen and then he took off in the direction that Meredith had pointed in, hastily climbing up a dirt path that led to the roof of the cave. There, Ryou was struggling to dodge a nasty looking metal pole with clawed ends that Skye was twirling in his hands.

"Ignore then and keep moving," Meredith demanded from somewhere behind him. He hesitated and then moved over the rock that was connecting the tiny cave to the top portion of an even larger section of the hill/mountain.

There, a wiggling mass of black bodies was attracted to a certain spot on the ground at the very center of the ground.

Syaoran raised his foot and dropped it with a _thump. _Immediately shrieks and whines of agony filled the air when a large column of fire erupted from the ground and scorched any of the winged creatures nearby. A couple of angry creatures dove for Syaoran's face with their claws outstretched. He raised his hand to cause further damage until they slammed into an invisible barrier. They screamed in pain.

He took a deep breath and turned to Meredith, whose face had for some reason, turned visibly depressed and tense.

"Soon Salvation will come," she croaked. "We have to stay here and watch to see that nothing comes to harm the ground up here." She pointed to the area that the little black creatures had recently vacated and Syaoran noticed there was a small hole there. Carved into the ground around it was a large circle.

The four sprites chirped in harmony and made a circle around him, spinning faster and faster until they were a blurred mess of the rainbow. Syaoran stood taller and diverted his attention below where the battle took place.

Closer to the edge of the hill, Kotoko was attempting to take out her anger on Gabriel and Tomoyo. There was not much time to react but Gabriel was quick to do so as Kotoko flung fistful after fistful of what looked to be sharp shards of wood and granite the size of her hands at them.

Gabriel's sapphire eyes were wide with panic as he frantically pointed and exploded each deadly object that Kotoko threw at them.

He pointed again.

And again.

And croaked a word of power.

Distressed, he pointed while he felt his strength start to fail him.

Pointed.

And finally lost track of the rhythm.

Finally he pointed at the wrong time.

In his haste to move backwards faster, Gabriel tripped on the hem of his jeans and fell. This time he was unable to avoid the large shard of wood as it was driven into his shoulder. He let out a cry of pain and struggled quickly to his feet, dragging Tomoyo up with him as he went.

He stumbled in front of her to shield her body with his own.

"You can't!" he spat with his chest heaving.

"Can't WHAT, you little brat! Kill your dear mommy?" she sneered. Tomoyo gasped softly.

Gabriel grit his teeth and stood his ground in front of Tomoyo. His father was not here to protect his okaa-san right now like he should be. Damnit.

Eriol was _supposed_ to be here, Gabriel thought angrily. He SHOULD have been here!

But as usual, something always went horribly wrong whenever Chaos broke loose. Something different always changed every time in Chaos' favor during the Battle of the End that tipped the scales. Always.

A large gust of wind took up into the air and then something long and yellow whisked between Kotoko and Eriol to wrap around Kotoko and into the air. She shrieked as she went.

Gabriel gaped in awe. A big smile slid onto his face.

"Windy," he whispered.

There was a dull thud behind them and then Eriol was suddenly on the ground behind them. His face was a creased in a mask of pain.

At his side Sakura grunted and switched her wand to her other hand, very much alive.

From above, Syaoran's eyes widened in shock and he gasped with immense relief. "SAKURA!"

He would have totally jumped off the landing to meet her had Meredith not shot him a dirty look, daring him to try it. He stayed put.

The wand came crashing down, "SWORD!" Sakura cried and walked over to Kotoko while the cute pink staff in her hand grew longer, sharper, and more defined in her hands with each step. Anger was clearly written on her face and the earth trembled with each step she took. Tomoyo gripped her son to her in an effort to hold onto him.

Kotoko lashed out at the oncoming threat. Sakura's arm snapped out. The sword in her hands sang as it ripped through the blow that Kotoko had attempted to land like a knife through butter.

And then the next blow.

And the next.

Throughout it all her rhythm did not falter once. Instead Sakura drew dangerously closer to the vibrant aura she sensed before her, her emerald eyes flashing with anger. Her wide and slow strides became shorter but quicker bursts of speed. Finally she twisted around in a wide butterfly arch, taking off the two thick green trunks of wood attached to Kotoko's back in two clean strokes.

"No more," Sakura hissed and struck with her power. Kotoko went flying backwards.

Sakura drew closer still.

"I won't let you hurt anyone else," she raised her sword into the air.

The wind seemed to grow increasingly stronger and suddenly the sword grew pink once more with delicate gilded wings.

The wand came crashing down above Kotoko.

"WINDY! FORM A CHAIN THAT BINDS!"

In a last attempt to inflict some sort of damage Kotoko disappeared and lashed out one last time, with her hands.

Tomoyo caught a brief glance of silver behind Sakura and screamed, "SAKURA! LOOK—"

There was no time to think about it. Gabriel threw himself between Sakura and her attacker, his face grim and took the brunt of the attack.

"GABRIEL!" Tomoyo screamed. Her heart wrenched with pain. The boy crumpled to the ground with a look of shock on his face.

He didn't get up. Both his parents immediately flew over to his side as blood started to pool around his body.

Before Kotoko could do any more damage she was entrapped in something that looked like a large golden bubble. Yet this was anything but a fragile piece of water. She pounded her fists inside her prison and shrieked her rage.

"YOU BITCH YOU LET ME OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW! I SWEAR TO CHAOS I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES, DAMNIT!" she yelled, her eyes wild.

Sakura's wand arm dropped to her side. She stared ahead, blank and unseeing, "You just shut the hell up," she muttered and quickly navigated her way over to where Eriol's and Tomoyo's green auras were crouched beside Hiiragizawa Gabriel.

"Is he okay?" Sakura asked fearfully.

"I-I don't know!" Tomoyo trembled and gave his shoulders one last shake before turning the boy over. She gasped and blinked tears away.

Gabriel was a bloody mess.

The large and sharpened chunk of wood was still protruding from his chest. Blood blossomed from that wound and soaked his dark shirt. There was no doubt from the way his body was bent that he had broken a few ribs. His body was a mess of scratches, gashes, and bruises. The left side of his face was already starting to darken and swell up.

But what had taken the biggest toll on him was the small ornate silver dagger that was still lodged deeply in his gut.

Kotoko had stabbed him.

"What the hell did she _do_ to you," Eriol growled and swept away a dark blue lock of hair that had become matted with blood on his son's forehead. He rested his hands on the hilt of the dagger and pulled it clean out of Gabriel's body.

Tomoyo gasped for air, tears pouring down her face, "S-She destroyed him. My…My _son._ She said that he was my-my son! And she killed him!" she wailed and held the boy to her chest.

Eriol only stared at her in shock. This was Gabriel's mother?

A groan from the person she clutched to her chest brought him back to his senses.

"Ow. Don-Don't do…that."

Tomoyo let out a cry and pulled him away so that she could better see his face. He winced and licked his parched lips.

"GABRIEL!" she cried.

"Ow…ow…Kami-sama it hurts," he rasped. "Please don't…Please don't hold me so tightly, 'kaa-san."

"So it IS true!" Sakura's hand flew to her mouth. He squinted up at her as best as he could from where he lay on the ground. But he was getting weaker and weaker with each breath and he had finally done the job he came to do.

He'd sacrificed himself to save Sakura, the Bringer of Salvation.

Now, he thought with a flicker of mischief in his eyes, he wanted to do more. His father in the future would definitely kick his ass for this but what the hell. He wanted Salvation to come as much as the last person didn't he? There wasn't anything wrong with a little motivation was there?

"Otou-san, 'kaa-san, Aunt Sakura, listen to me," he spoke as loud as he could but they still had to lean closer in order to hear him.. "You have to…summon Salvation as soon as you can. Have…no matter _what_ happens," his voice was growing softer and softer as he struggled to hold onto consciousness. "No matter what you see…no matter… you can't stop what you're doing. Anything that happens today," he gasped, "is destiny."

Sakura nodded, "I will do my best."

He shook his head, "Not.. good… _enough_," he croaked. "Promise me."

Eriol looked on with a tortured expression as he realized that Gabriel was slowly dying right in front of him.

Sakura thought for a moment and then a frown creased her face, "Gabriel is something going to happen that we should know about?"

Gabriel didn't look at them and shook his head, "Don't…Don't…worry about it. Just promise…me. If you don't," he shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. God it was getting harder to breathe the more he talked and the pain from his wound was buzzing loudly throughout his whole body. " "You don't…play your part then we're all screwed. Just PROMISE!"

She paused before agreeing.

Immensely relieved that he didn't have to talk anymore he let his head fall back into Tomoyo.

"Gabriel?" Tomoyo trembled, stroking his hair, "Is true…that you're my son? And Eriol's son?"

It was a pointless question that she already knew the answer to. She didn't know what else to say. She knew he was dying. Her heart was breaking. She had always cared for him but never really realized it was in the way that a mother cared for her child. And now that she finally understood, he was on the brink of death. She had found something precious only to lose it in an instant.

He couldn't help it. He was too tired already. He only smiled.

"I didn't," she sobbed. "I didn't realize. I d-didn't kn-know! But I… I love you," she wanted him to know that she did care for him at least.

Eriol stared into space blankly, his heart pounding in his chest.

Gabriel was dying. His son…he was dying. This couldn't be happening. It shouldn't be happening. Why was this happening? Why did he have to lose him? It wasn't fair.

Gabriel smiled up at his dad weakly. His silence was scaring him, "Don't worry," then his eyes grew wide and he choked on his words. His body trembled with the effort, "We'll…We'll…" his voice trailed off.

"We'll wha…" Eriol looked down, quickly. Tomoyo let out a long wail. Gabriel's sapphire eyes grew dim and slowly fluttered shut for the last time.

"We'll what?" Eriol cried. "What will we do? What will we do without you?" he yelled.

Of course he would never answer.

Tomoyo's shoulder wracked with sobs and she rocked Gabriel back and forth gently. She whispered to him over and over again, "_No, no, no, no!…No…come back…come back. Don't leave me. Come back…come back…Please please please..."_

It was a long time that she just sat there holding his body in the midst of all the black winged creatures around them. Sakura had called upon the Silence card to subdue Kotoko's jeers and screams. She sat crouched next to Tomoyo and put an arm around the grieving young woman.

Eriol could only stare at Gabriel blankly, not daring to believe it.

When the tears began to weave down his cheeks silently, Eriol raised his face to the sky that had suddenly gone dim.

The rain started to fall upon the land heavily. He didn't make a sound as the rain masked the path of tears shed. At the same time it soaked the world with his sorrow and pain.

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I figured that this was a good place as any to end for now (yes, Gabriel's dead. Originally it was the Guardian of Sky, but I felt this fit nicely too. I know there is definitely a number of fans out there that woulda killed me if I killed off eriol XD). I'm steadily making my way through here so im pretty sure that the story will be finished by the end of this month! Maybe in a week or two even. Yay! (pumps paw up in victory cheer) im glad to have completed this story (so LONG) and cant wait to start a new project!

As usual I ask, please review! Please please please? one reviewer yelled at me (well sorta) and I don't mind in the least! Really! I appreciate the enthusiasm of a reader who takes the time to pull up that little white box and write how he or she really felt about the story! Whether good or bad I appreciate the comments and I wont forget to say thank you if you message me or whatever either. (huggles reviews to chest) they are my preeeecioussssss.

Enough of the weirdness. Ill keep writing faster if you review! Til then!


	18. Summoning Salvation

_**Recap!**_

_Characters_-

Syaoran: Guardian of Fire and Seeker (formerly known as Pyro in his other life as a God of Fire), has totally got it bad for Sakura.

Eriol: Guardian of Sky (Once called Ciel), seems to like Tomoyo. Is the future father of Gabriel.

Tomoyo: Guardian of Water (AKA Lady Cordelia in her former life). Is the future mother of Eriol's children: Gabriel and Mina (Sakura).

Sakura: Guardian of Earth (Whose name was always Sakura) Just transferred to Tomoeda. She collects the Clow Cards and is also the Guardian of Earth. Has been medically certified as blind but her overwhelmingly keen senses allow her to see the auras and shadows of those around her in accordance to magic and mood and shape. Only she has the power to unleash the entity that will save the world, Salvation.

Hiiragizawa Gabriel: Eriol's future son. Looks just like his father. Came to Tomoeda to save Sakura and stop her from dying like she has over and over in her past lives. His future mother is Daidouji Tomoyo.

Ryou: A henchman of Chaos. Sicced four evil creatures on the Guardians in Ch11. Definitely evil. Is a young man whose sad past motivates him to destroy a corrupt world. He kidnapped Sakura and fought with her on Yanagihara Hill before he ended up throwing her off.

Kotoko: Another henchman of Chaos. She killed Gabriel instead of Sakura in the last chapter. Has the power of earth and water.

The TriArch: A secret organization of three people with very special abilities chosen by the Prophet to protect the Guardians and fight against any cohorts of Chaos during the Battle of the End (the prophesized day of Chaos' attack). Takana Emma, Skye (or Sukayo) and Meredith are the members of this organization. Both Emma and Ryou are classmates of the Guardians, while Meredith, a stoic 12-year old, has the ability to dream cast and is also telekinetic. Skye is well-known for his power with metal, which he brings fire to as well as for the tattoos on his arms, which increase pain. All the members of the TriArch seem to be a small, but closely knit gothic family. Emma was struck down as she came up Yanagihara Hill earlier on and has not been seen since.

Babysitter/ Chips: Messenger sent by the Prophet that is really annoying and seemed useless until he helped rescue Tomoyo. He actually has a serious, deadly side to him. Has not been seen or heard from for some time.

the Prophet: The Chief Messenger of God, in charge of guiding the Guardians and all other affairs pertaining to Chaos' attempt on the world. He/She usually sits in the dark on an eerie looking throne. He appears to look like a 10-year old boy with feathery white hair, glasses and almond shaped eyes that change color every few seconds wearing a large white cloak covered with holy sigils.

the Spirits/Sprites: Four mischievous beings, each made of their own element, that only those with magic can see. Fire: Pyro. Sky: Skye, Water: Aquia, Earth: Gaia.

_The Story Thus Far:_

Syaoran definitely had just work cut out for him when the divine being known as the Prophet ordered him to find the 4 Guardians who were destined to save the world from the power of Chaos. But even after finding the Guardians and even Hiiragizawa Eriol's son from the future, Gabriel, things weren't getting any better. Now Syaoran has come to find that Kinomoto Sakura is the "Bringer of Salvation" as the Guardian of Earth and the _only_ person with the power to unleash Salvation, the one and only tool that can save the world, and finally bring Chaos' rampage to an end. Of course things don't go so smoothly and Syaoran's nightmares about Sakura seem to be coming true. Worried for her safety he, the other guardians, and the TriArch rush to protect her. It is there at Yanagihara Hill where Ryou manages to throw Sakura off the mountain and kill her. In a rage, Syaoran (and eventually Skye) attack Ryou until Ryou calls a swarm of winged black demons and flees the scene. Meanwhile, Eriol and Tomoyo become locked in their own battle against Kotoko. Just when things begin to sour, Gabriel and Sakura (who is not dead after all) come to the rescue. Sadly it is also this battle that costs Gabriel his life.

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Reminder: The battle IS messy so perspectives in this chapter are going to be EVERYWHERE! There are so many different perspectives I had to jump from to tell the story that I eventually gave up separating them. Just think in the movies how everyone is yelling back and forth to their comrades on the battlefield as they fight against the enemy.

Well, onto the story! Read on people read on! And please review!

**--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 18...Summoning Salvation**

Skye gasped for air and allowed the metal staff he'd been wielding for the past hour and a half against his opponent to support his weight. He winced when he heard its claws dig into the ground and eased off it, his chest heaving.

"Goddamnit I'm tired," Skye croaked.

"Are you…are you finished then?" Ryou snapped from where he was barely holding himself up. His robes were singed and sweaty.

Skye wiped off the blood that had been trickling down his cheek with the back of his hand.

"You shittin' me? I'm just getting warmed up!"

In reply, Ryou straightened up, "Good. Because I'm going to kill you and this world full of sick bastards!"

Skye laughed harshly and switched the thin metal pole to his other hand. Fire sparked to life along its silver length. His electric blue eyes flashed.

"Bring it," he whispered.

He threw himself forward at the cohort and twisted his body around lithely. Ryou roared and thrust his palms out to meet Skye's attack. Lightning exploded from his hands and sent Skye flipping backwards a few feet before he managed to regain his balance and come back for more.

To Ryou's annoyance the boy used that stupid speed technique that was similar to teleportation and knocked him from behind. When he turned around the goth youth was already bearing down on him with the thin metal staff, his teeth grit.

"Why the HELL can't you get it through your thick skull?" Skye snarled. "What happened was in the past. Let. It. GO!" As if on cue, the end of the pole ignited once more and sent currents of blue fire pulsing down its length. Ryou let go quickly and resorted to landing a punch. Skye blocked the blow and they broke apart. The two circled each other warily.

"Shut up! You know NOTHING of suffering! She was my sister and I lost her! They had no RIGHT!"

They had no right at all. It wasn't fair. It wasn't, Ryou thought fiercely. Bitterness ran cold through his veins like ice when he remembered how he'd lost her forever. He'd been helpless to help her, having been locked in his room when it happened. He was a boy at the time and had been locked away in his room by his mother as a time out. He had seen the three men saunter onto the front lawn and snatch her away while she was playing on the swings and laughing at him. He'd remembered the feeling of hopelessness.

The black hatred of the world that had blossomed in his heart had, after weeks of crying and hurting, had completely taken over him. It had helped him to leave his home and seek out a means of taking his revenge on the world.

Chaos had taken him in with open arms, promising to destroy a world that fed on innocent children every day. Only when he had what he wanted would Ryou be satisfied.

"And you think YOU have a _right_?" Skye scoffed and looked at him with mock incredibility. "You're so full of shit your eyes are turning brown, Sparky! Whatdya think's gonna happen to all the other little girls and boys in the world? You realize you're not just killing the idiots but the innocents too? You're a freakin MURDERER."

Ryou shook his head. Someone like him could never understand the pain he went through, "The world will be reborn again as good as new!" he replied calmly.

"As good as-AS GOOD AS NEW! You _gotta_ be kidding me!" Skye roared and thrust his staff into the ground, setting off a new wave of tremors. "There will ALWAYS be GOOD and BAD, Ryou! It's the natural balance in the world that makes EXISTANCE POSSIBLE! You're a fool for thinking that by killing the world off _again_ the world will suddenly become PURE!"

"You don't know CRAP about what you're talking about!" Ryou snapped. "Shut up!"

The two of them lunged for each other and struck at the same time. Lightning and fire collided and flooded the room with brilliant blue light. Their bodies where locked together in a struggle to overpower each other

"You think I'M talking crap?" Skye grunted. "What is happiness without sorrow, dipshit? Or life without death? What is pleasure without pain? And good without evil?" his power was slowly increasing with each word. Ryou grit his teeth and dug his heels into the ground. "What the _hell's_ the point in there being something GOOD if there isn't something BAD first!"

Ryou's heart thudded in his chest and his eyes widened in realization right before Skye's power flared brightly and overpowered his own.

Bright blue light exploded in that cave. When it faded there were no more sounds of struggle.

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As soon as Sakura, Eriol and Tomoyo reached the top of the hill Syaoran fell on Sakura immediately like a rhino closing in on the kill.

He roughly yanked her into his arms and crushed her body to him, "Holy SHIT you scared me! You scared the CRAP out of me, Sakura!" he croaked.

It was a pretty bold move on his part but he would risk getting slapped or snapped at after going through a whole episode in which she was dead to him forever. That scare had made him realize how much she meant to him. Besides, who knew when this chance would come around again? The world could end at any moment soon with the End coming and all. Life was not forever, he acknowledged dryly. If he ever made it out of this alive he would definitely take more chances!

And he would tell her that he loved her, he added nervously.

She didn't slap him though. Instead she wound her arms around him, "_Gomenasai._ It won't happen again," he could have sworn he heard as smile as she said that.

It was all good.

Except for what had just went down with Gabriel. His shoulders slumped.

"Ahem."

That girl behind him with the black hair was creeping him out.

"I am glad to see you've all reunited but we do have work to do. NOW. The time for hugs and kisses will come later AFTER you've summoned Salvation," Meredith reminded them. Then she stopped and looked at Eriol and Tomoyo with a look of deep empathy. "I _am_ sorry for your great loss. I didn't know him for long but he was a very brave and determined young man. You should be proud."

Eriol nodded solemnly.

"Thank you," Tomoyo whispered before she rushed off in the direction of the four sprites.

Syaoran was strongly tempted to snap back at Meredith but his instincts told him that she wouldn't tolerate that and he would definitely regret it later. He took a deep breath, let go of Sakura and told himself that they had work to do. And shame on them for getting sidetracked.

He set to work and, as Meredith had instructed, motioned the other Guardians into the circle carved into the ground. The same circle that he had carved over and over in his former lives. The four tiny sprites were already poised in on that line in four directions. Skye was poised on the North end, Pyro smoldered in the South across from it, Gaia floated on the West end, and Aqua floundered about silently in the East part of the circle. It seemed that despite their miniscule size, they had a role to play in the coming of Salvation as well.

Eriol, Tomoyo, and Sakura made their way into the circle. They followed the former Chooser (that's Syaoran) to the center of the circle and positioned themselves as he told them to. When they were ready, Sakura stood in the center of the circle before the hole in the ground, Syaoran stood poised across from her, and Eriol and Tomoyo stood behind her on her left and right sides. They had formed a triangle inside the circle of the 4 sprites.

Sakura raised her wand and thrust the end of her staff into the small hole.

Then the world fell deathly silent.

Syaoran looked around him in bewilderment. The first thing that he noticed was that time had slowed down. Every flying demon flapped lazily in the sky at snail pace. The last thing he realized was that it looked like everything had gone black and white. All the color around them had seeped away leaving the world blank and dark. The only light he could see was emanating from the staff that Sakura gripped with trembling hands. He thought for a second that maybe he was seeing things but when he looked at Eriol and Tomoyo he saw them staring at the sky and each other with the same look of awe upon their faces.

In his mind a memory surfaced, like many before it. A memory that even as the reality around him was filtered of all color.

He was staring down blankly at an opulent pool of water, trailing his fingers lightly over its surface. Floating at the surface were sakura petals. What the hell? He thought and shook his head just moments before the silent world of black white exploded with bursts of sound and speed. Everything seemed to speed up whirling faster and faster. Each shriek and each growl of the flying creatures amplified in volume until Syaoran was groaning and covering his ears to shut the sounds out. God it was loud. Kami, it hurt. 

They definitely knew what was up and were going to stop it all costs. They didn't want Salvation to be summoned, so naturally their first target was the young woman who stood in center of the circle with the small staff in her hands.

With the intention of moving closer to Sakura to protect her from any and all income attacks that he could, Syaoran moved to step forward.

He couldn't. What the hell? It was as if his body refused to move. Like everything from his head down was paralyzed or something.

Panic hit him over the head like a sledgehammer and yelled to Tomoyo and Eriol, "I CAN'T MOVE!" after seeing the looks of shock on their faces he realized that they were paralyzed in place too. They were all completely vulnerable to attack!

Shit!

"You cannot stop. You will not be able to move until Salvation has been completely summoned," Meredith's voice broke through his panic.

"WHAT! YOU'RE GONNA GET US KILLED! HOW THE _HELL_ ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KEEP IT COMING IF WE CAN'T DEFEND OURSELVES? THIS IS STUPID!" he roared. She ignored them.

And then it seemed as if any creature that was flying was suddenly swooping down on them by the thousands.

Syaoran yelled, "NO!"

Meredith shouted a long stream of words from a language that was long dead.

It was as if she had activated some sort of spell.

The tiny sprites around him suddenly started to flare with a bright light that became so intense he could barely stand to look at them (which was kind of hard because they were positioned everywhere he looked). The only thing he _could_ make out now was each sprite's silhouette was no longer the size of a small and cute sprite. In fact they were growing in size, getting bigger and bigger until they were the size of the average human adult. Then with a shower of silver and gold sparks that even Syaoran saw in the world of black and white, they were suddenly transformed from cute little bursts of light to warriors.

Skye had grown taller and wore a long, hooded, white coat traced laced with intricate black designs. The hems of the coat were gold. In his (apparently the entity was now masculine) thin white hands gripped tightly to a long gold staff with tiny objects dangling down from it. When Syaoran caught a glance at the inside of Skye's coat he was shocked to see that he had a _starry sky_ complete with moving shootings stars and shifting planets.

Aquia had beome the image of a young person (he couldn't tell if it was man or woman) made of water with webbed hands (A/N: Think the Watery Card).

Gaia was a tall young woman in a long green dress that was made of earth. Precious metals were embedded in the area above her ample bosom and acted as fringe about her shoulders. Her golden hair was swept back above her head and her green eyes stared ahead. They were blank but surprisingly alert and ready for any line of attack that may have been coming her way. (A/N: Earthy)

And then there was Pyro, the sprite that represented Syaoran's own element. Pyro was a lean but muscular young man with fire for hair and a thick red band. His human body went from the fierce yellow and black eyes to the fists that were on fire at his side and ended with the bare and muscular torso. Everything from his hips to where his legs should have been was a column of smoldering fire. Great wings unfurled from his back (A/N: I may have exaggerated things a little, but just imagine the Firey Card).

The four warriors started to move in a perfect circle around the four guardians, shielding them from any and all attacks that attempted to come near them and the Bringer of Salvation, Sakura. Pyro grunted and flung burst after burst of fire into the sky. Winged black creatures started to fall from the sky like dead leaves in autumn. Gaia was contemplating the barren ground before her. Eriol, Tomoyo, and Syaoran watched in a sort of trance when vines shot up from the ground in all directions and spread around the Four Guardian until they had created a fortified birdcage-like barrier. The entity that he once been Skye lifted his gold staff as far as it would go and tapped the top of the cage. A crackling blue and white substance slowly trailed down and blanketed the large gaps of the cage.

Meredith shouted another command in the odd language and Skye acted once more.

He raised up his staff and pointed it towards the sky. In response the sky lit up at its master's call.

Strike… 

Skye had uttered the same spell that Eriol had used long ago to set the school cafeteria on fire, but this spell seemed to hold an amazing amount of power that in no way compared to Eriol's own.

A burst of light exploded in the sky and swallowed the ground up in its power. All and any black winged creature plunged to the ground, falling dead at their feet like dead birds. Syaoran gaped in awe and fear. Even the tiny spirits that had been bugging him from the beginning served a purpose. To protect the Guardians when they were summoning Salvation. Because obviously, they were vulnerable with the whole feet-stuck-to-the-ground thing. As if sensing this, Skye turned to regard Syaoran with eyes that blazed and literally crackled like the lightning that he had sent upon Chaos' creatures. Then his eyes shifted to something behind Syaoran's back. The Guardian of Fire turned to see what had caught the Spirit's attention.

Sakura had suddenly gone rigid. The staff in her hands was no longer cute and small, he noticed. Instead it was growing longer and darker in her hands. What had once been the tiny gilded wings of a cherub were suddenly becoming the long and graceful wings of an archangel. The small star of the staff in her hands grew bigger to the point that it encompassed the entire staff and revealed a moon and sun. As the staff grew, Syaoran felt something inside him shift.

In his mind's eye, he saw moments when he and Sakura had been together in their former lives.

She was laughing at him and brushing the hair out of his face, which was contorted into a look of great annoyance. Then she leaned in and kissed him swiftly, curling her fingers around his ears as she did so. To pull him in closer. His expression softened. He wrapped his arms around her waist as he leaned down her meet her lips.

Then he saw her gasping for air on the ground from where she lay, tears flowing down her cheeks like the blood that flowed down from her chest. A small silver dagger was embedded in her stomach. He clearly saw her eyes shining with what he saw to be sadness and a lack of hope. It was a glance of his past life in which they were destined to never be together.

Slowly but surely he was remembering everything that had ever happened to him and his fellow Guardians in their past lives. How many times he had fallen for Sakura over and over again. How many times he had taken the role of the Chooser as he had in this life to find the other Guardians. How many times he had cursed the Babysitter, who he knew at that moment, was surely gone because his job (to guide them in finding each other) was far over. How many times he had failed to stop the world from ending.

He remembered it all.

He grit his teeth and watched the staff in Sakura's hands grow longer and longer.

But before anything more could happen, someone started to scream. At first he thought it might be him or his friends. A sharp glance into each of their faces told him that it wasn't.

It took him a while to realize that a figure made of black had emerged from the landing below them. It was horrible. A large winged figure about 8 feet high with horns. It could have been the devil himself if Syoaran had not recognized it from the many memories embedded in his mind.

Chaos.

Chaos roared at the Guardians for every inch that the staff changed. The staff was growing longer and longer until it was taller than Sakura herself. It (he? Syaoran mused) flung out its arms and sent a strong current rushing towards the Guardians and the shield that the Spirits had so grimly erected. Skye grunted and sent back a current of his own that clashed with Chaos' and unfortunately, disintegrated. The power swept the 4 spirits up in its wake and when the smoke had cleared the 4 spirits were suddenly gone.

"Shit!" Syaoran cursed and started to struggle against the force that held him in place.

The thing stepped forward. Meredith slid in its path at the same time.

Chaos barely glanced down at the girl, but for all the power that Syaoran felt to the tips of his toes she certainly wasn't strong enough to overcome the darkest entity of all human existence besides Evil himself. The creature flung her backwards as easily as it would a rag doll and continued its march over to the Guardians.

"MEREDITH!" Eriol cried out.

As he panicked with the increasingly alarming situation they were in, Syaroan's twisted sense of humor kicked in.

Great, he was going to die with his legs stuck in the ground.

"BASTARD! Bastard bastard bastard!" Syaroan spat over and over under his breath while he continued to struggle to free himself. Why on EARTH couldn't he move? Who was the idiot who'd started all this.

He winced. Him. Damn it all.

He yelled out a warning to the others and then shot the thing a blistering glare that clearly said, _Stay the hell away._ Wouldn't you know it that big black horned creatures were stupid? It didn't take the hint and drew closer still.

Maybe being stuck was a good thing after all; he mused and continued to struggle. That thing was so heavy it's probably cause an earthquake. Falling on one's face was not cool.

As it turned out, though, things would not end this way.

It only took a matter of seconds for the creature to be caught off guard when it was suddenly being attacked. Syaoran froze in mid-struggle when he noticed the newly formed gash in its hip.

Emma Takana twisted the wrist that held a long sword made of hellfire and settled into a defensive stance. Chaos was getting ready to reciprocate her attack and it was _pissed._

Syaoran was just happy that Emma wasn't dead as he'd thought she was.

Emma smirked, "Good. I got your attention," she said.

And then she was running.

She was literally an aggressive blur when she moved and covered the ground between Chaos and herself within one second.

No joke.

The girl could _run._

She had managed to draw her blade across the thing's body once more before she was suddenly airborne. She was ready to go again even as she hit the ground and twisted around on her heel.

The next moment she ran at Chaos. A large translucent globe of what looked like fire surrounded her body.

Syaoran sensed the source of power and looked to the sidelines where Meredith stood, her eyes riveted to Emma. She was working with Emma.

And suddenly Skye was too. The gothic young man seemed to appear out of nowhere at Emma's side. The tattoes on his arms were no longer black and stationary looking. Impulsively, Syaoran shuddered. The characters and symbols on Skye's arms were now writing freely on his arms like snakes.

When he was no more than 10 feet away from the creature, Skye grunted and flung the two rings in his hand at the creature. At the same time, Emma had launched herself into the air, performed a complete back flip and landed on the back of the creature known as Chaos, effectively sinking her sword into its back in one complete stroke.

Skye had not even caught the two rings in his hands before Chaos seemed to explode with a burst of power. This caught all three TriArch members off Guard and left them scattered on the ground, stunned.

_Death…to you all….Death to the world…_

The words flowed from the creature's mouth. It rose its head to the sky and lifted its arms and invoked a power much stronger than anything they had seen yet. A power that was directed towards the 4 Guardians standing immobile in their circle.

Syaoran trembled in his shoes. No no. If he remembered correctly, Chaos had the power to summon death. This was Chaos' ultimate attack. An attack that Syaoran had failed to stop many many times in his past lives. He'd already lost count to the number of times that he'd lost someone to this attack. And it was many years ago that he had sent Death upon Tomoyo and Eriol together.

He would never forget the empty stares that he'd seen after they'd been hit.

"STOP!" he shouted and was promptly ignored.

"I'm almost…almost there…" Sakura gasped suddenly, as if to remind him to hold on. He whipped around to see her progress and found that the staff in her hands was completely unrecognizable. "Just a little…longer…"

Syaoran looked from Sakura to Chaos and then to the three unconscious figures on the ground. There was nothing that he could do. He could no more raise his hands as much as he could move his feet. There was no way he could channel his power into a sort of force field if he couldn't move his hands! What the hell?

Chaos roared yet again and dropped its arms. Syaoran opened his mouth and screamed over and over and over again just moments before the blow fell and Death swept out to capture them all in its jaws, to absorb their life.

Bright light flared in Syaoran's sight.

But he wasn't expecting the light to gradually fade. Neither did the other two Guardians, apparently. Eriol and Tomoyo sent him similar looks of confusion and astonishment.

There was a dull thud and then something was falling at their feet before the circle.

Syaoran's head snapped to the side and then his eyes widened in shock.

Ryou wavered on his knees precariously. By some chance of miracle he had absorbed the brunt of the attack and taken Death into his body. Syaoran didn't know how he'd managed to do it. But didn't know _why_ the enemy had done so. And it bugged the hell out of him.

_Fool…._Chaos growled.

Syaoran agreed. He didn't want to admit that he was grateful for what Ryou had given up to save them. How could he not be, despite a few suspicious thoughts (hey, the guy tried to kill him and his friends a few times, remember). Judging by the quickly fading life in Ryou's eyes he would die within the next minute or so. Before that time came, Syaoran wanted to know the reason for his sacrifice.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM? WHY DID YOU DO THAT YOU IDIOT?"

"My…sister," Ryou croaked. He was so sad, Syaoran noticed. Why was he so sad? "I was…I was wrong. Save my sister….save them all."

Syaoran's eyes narrowed. He had no idea what Ryou was talking about. None. Ryou had a sister?

Kotoko, maybe? If that was the case, then Ryou's death was a lost cause.

Nonetheless, Syaoran nodded, "FINE!" He deserved to atleast let the guy die in peace. It was the least that Syaoran could do for the guy who'd saved them, friend or foe aside.

This new agreement put Ryou at ease. He nodded off and then didn't make an effort to stop himself from falling when the light faded from his eyes. Syaoran looked down at body on the ground in a sort of transfixed state.

They were at war and people were dying right before him. First Gabriel. Now Ryou. Both had given their lives to ensure that Salvation would come. One had lived in the light. The other had always been drowned in darkness. Now they were both gone.

Syaoran looked up at Chaos before him and grit his teeth angrily.

Was this the creep that they were destined to continue fighting over and over? Deep hatred and contempt gripped his heart.

Was it even FAIR that they would continue to risk their lives over and over against a thing that would never truly be gone? Was it worth it?

Sakura chose that specific moment, however to declare in a somewhat panicked voice, "I…It's coming!" Syaoran twisted around anxiously and winced at the light that invaded his eyes.

He couldn't really see what the staff looked like anymore. The staff was blazing so brightly that he could no longer see what was in front of him, except just…light. Then barely, just barely, he made out two figures. A tall thin man with long white hair and white wings. And was that a lion….? A tiger?

What was going on? Was this what they had fought for? A lion and a skinny man with white hair? He thought in disbelief.

He changed his mind when, for a brief fleeting moment the man turned to Syaoran and stared into his eyes with cold icy blue ones. A shiver rippled through Syaoran's chest. The lion didn't even bother to look at the Guardian before taking to the air and roaring in such a way that Syaoran found majestic. The man with wings (was he an angel?) was right behind the lion.

As he watched the two entities soaring above Mount Yanaghira and Japan, above the Battle, Syaoran could help but feel that it was comforting to know that they were what Syaoran and his friends had been searching for all along. Comforting, because he felt the great urge to fall to his knees and pay homage. Comforting because when Chaos screamed its fury and outrage, Syaoran knew that they had won the battle of the End and the battle against Chaos too.

He felt a great surge of delirious happiness and smug satisfaction. So this…this was it! The End would never come! Gabriel and Ryou had given up their lives to see to it. Eriol, Sakura, Tomoyo, and the TriArch had fought to accomplish it.

Salvation had been possible…and Salvation had definitely been achieved. How could it not when it lit up the sky the way it did? He couldn't help but feel giddy that at least for now, it was finally over.

It was so comforting that with a sigh and smile, Syaoran closed his eyes and let himself be carried under into unconsciousness. He didn't know what happened to him after that. All he knew was that the weight of the world had fallen from his shoulders. The threat of Chaos had fallen to pieces.

Salvation had come.

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There you have it. This is the last action-packed chapter of the story. All loose ends are now completely tied. The End has been stopped, Salvation has been summoned. So now all you can do now is wait for the last chapter and see what will happen at the end of the story. What happened to the TriArch? What will happen between Sakura and Syaoran? Between Tomoyo and Eriol? Will Ryou's and Gabriel's death continue to bother them forever? What about the sprites? The last chapter was already complete long before chapter 18 was (lol, I couldn't resist) so it won't be long before I post the last chapter (omg I cant believe it! The LAST one!)

Also as a final word for this chapter, I've posted some pictures that I've drawn of some of the characters. I'm not too good at describing what my characters look like to you with words so I drew up the 3 of the Spirits in sprite form, a few pictures of the original Guardians, and Skye in his battle form. Though, I definitely had more pictures I'm currently without a scanner so it would be a while before I posted any more. Wahhh. Please take a look at my writers' blog if you're interested in seeing some of these. It's the link that I've listed as my homepage in my profile. The pictures will be there and a summary of how the story really went before I turned it into a fan fic. How the plot was so different when I first wrote this story in the 7th grade (I just graduated from high school). So be sure to check it out. And if you have a blogger account, feel free to leave a comment:D R+R! Please!


	19. The World in a Kiss

**--------------------------------Hidden Power: Chapter 18...Epilogue: _The World in A Kiss _**

Syaoran briskly made his way down the hall, clutching the fresh bouquet of sakura blossoms at his side as he drew stares from the nurses and other wheelchair-bound patients. He glared right back at them and increased the pace at which he was walking.

There was no way in _hell _he ever thought he'd be walking around carrying a bouquet of flowers, but here he was. He sighed.

"You jerk, you TOLD me that you were only going to be gone for a ½ hour at the market! And THEN they find you in the rain the next morning! On the bottom of the stairs of the subway surrounded by mushrooms and popcorn with pneumonia and a broken arm!" a girl screeched in a room he passed. Curiously, Syaoran backpedaled and poked his nose into the room.

He could hardly believe it.

Ryou, the same Ryou who had so suddenly given his life up for Syaoran on Mt. Yanagihara a week ago, was sitting in a hospital bed protecting himself from getting hit with a bouquet of lilacs by a short girl with curly brown hair.

Syaoran nearly choked when he recognized her without all the black hair and fingernails.

It was Meredith.

The elderly couple that Syaoran assumed to be Ryou's parents laughed at his feeble attempts to ward off his little sister's blows.

Lilac petals flew and even in the end, Ryou himself ending up laughing so hard that Syaoran could hardly believe him to be the same cold young man who had wanted the Guardians dead so long ago.

Of course Ryou had more than broken his arm in the Battle of the End. But it seemed as if things were just naturally the way they should have been. It was as if they had been fighting in an alternate reality or something. Like it had all it had all been a freakish nightmare. And they had woken up to find their lives as it should have been. Ryou's life was apparently one where his sister had never been kidnapped and separated from him for so many years. A life in which he was still happy.

Syaoran knew better.

The tiny girl flung herself into his arms and Ryou hugged her with his good arm as his parents laughed at the two.

"I've missed you!" she wailed into his chest. His parents thought nothing of it but Syaoran saw that Ryou understood the full meaning of her words. That after many years of their separation they were finally together again.

Ryou only laughed and patted her on the head.

Syaoran smiled. Honestly, he was surprised to find that he was actually happy for the guy. Ryou was surrounded by the people who loved and cared for him. He'd finally gotten the happy ending he so greatly deserved. He'd found the sister who had been looking for him all along on the other side of the battlefield. Now they were together again.

He continued on down the hall when his realized his leg was vibrating. Grumbling to himself he dug around in his pocket and flipped open the tiny green phone Tomoyo had bought for him.

"What!" he hissed into tiny celphone, holding it awkwardly to his mouth. Damn he still wasn't used to this thing, he thought carefully skirting a bawling 6-year old and his mother. The last time he and that kid had run into each other the other day he'd gotten a hearty kick in the shin.

He listened to what the other person on the other side had to say before rolling his eyes and continuing to walk, "Nooo, I don't have time to eat _scones_, Eriol! (pause) I'm going to see her NOW if you'd let me get off the phone," he added pointedly and stuck his tongue out at the kid behind his mother's back.

The boy stuck gave Syaoran the finger.

Syaoran growled in his throat at the brat before he snapped into the phone, "Alright! Alright! Don't you DARE pull that crap on me now!" then he closed the phone and stepped into Room 145.

He blinked rapidly an overwhelmingly bright light filled the room and rubbed his eyes. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light he made out the dark silhouette of a young woman sitting in the wheelchair by the window and made his way over.

She heard him before he could call out to her and wheeled around to face him with a soft smile on her face when she recognize the fiery red and orange color of his aura, "Syaoran!" she greeted him.

Syaoran nodded in greeting and stood beside her silently.

"I'm so glad that you came to visit me!" when he plopped the bouquet of flowers in her lap blushing, she burst out, "Thank you, Syaoran-kun!"

"When're you getting out?" he answered gruffly.

She grinned and used her hands to feel the petals of the cherry blossoms though her eyes stared ahead, useless, "I'm getting out tomorrow."

Syaoran only grunted his pleasure, but she seemed to understand and beamed brightly.

"I know," she gushed. "Me too!"

He stared down at her leg in dismay.

After that horrifying battle, Syaoran had woken up at home in his bed. According to the other Guardians they had each done the same. Each of them had nursed their various wounds and gotten in contact with each other to learn that Sakura had been admitted into the hospital for a heart seizure and a broken leg.

As if sensing the twisting feeling of depression in his stomach Sakura patted his hand gently, "It's okay, Syaoran. It doesn't…it doesn't really hurt."

He looked at her, "What's wrong then?"

Sakura gazed unseeing out the window and didn't reply.

After everything that they went through she still wouldn't be able to see anything, he realized with a sinking heart.

"It-It's nothing!" she laughed shakily and drew a deep breath to regain her composure, probably.

"Obviously not," he snapped. "Can't you just fricking tell me?"

Sakura frowned, "What does it matter? It's stupid to wish for the impossible."

He rolled his eyes, "You're so full of shit," he muttered. "After everything that's happened you still doubt that anything can happen at any time? That I couldn't…" he stopped, horrified.

Holy crap he'd almost told her he loved her! Where the _hell_ had THAT come from!

She wheeled around to face him. Her emerald eyes were wide with surprise, "That you couldn't…_what_, Syaoran-kun?"

"That I couldn't…."

Should he say it?

What would she say?

Then deep in his mind he remembered their last moments together in his previous life.

_Both he Sakura were laying in the grass beside a pond underneath a tree. She laughed out loud when he rolled over to her side and poked a finger into her ribs. Then she rolled over onto her side and grabbed his hand._

"_Pyro."_

"_Hm?" Syaoran saw himself roll on his side to give her what he saw was a fuzzy smile. _

"_Promise that you'll never forget me?... Promise me that no matter what happens tomorrow you won't forget me, okay?"_

_For a while he didn't say anything. He seemed to be stunned. The girl looked up at him to see what he might be thinking and he turned away. She whopped him on the head._

"_ARGH!" he looked back at her._

"_I'll beat you up, if you don't!" she threatened, holding out a tiny fist._

"_Okay."_

"_Promise?" she asked him. Cherry blossom petals flew through the wind and he reached over to grab a petal that had gotten stuck in her hair. _

"_Yes, I promise to never forget you for as long as I live…" _

A warm smile formed on his face.

They all knew how short life could be. How could he risk her not knowing how much he loved her after losing her over and over so many times before this?

Life, was meant to be lived to its fullest.

Sakura waited with bated breath as Syaoran dropped to one knee before her and gently seized her hands and placed them in his own large ones.

They were so warm.

"I promised to never forget you…" he whispered softly peering into emerald orbs. "I promised I wouldn't."

"I promised I'd love you forever," he finished. "And I will."

He would.

_I'd do anything for you. I want to give you the world,_ he thought fiercely and squeezed her hands gently, his heart slamming against his ribs.

And he would.

Sakura closed her eyes. Slowly, timidly, Syaoran leaned closer and pressed his trembling lips to her own.

When she didn't pull away or slap him as he'd expected, he smiled tenderly and kissed the river of tears that wound its way down her cheeks.

She was so so precious to him.

_So precious…_

He trailed butterfly kisses up her cheeks. She shivered with delight when his warm breath caressed her cheeks. He planted a gentle kiss on her temple and then her forehead, wrapping his arms around her shoulders securely. She placed her hands on his shoulders, her fingers curling around the collar of his jacket.

Syaoran looked at the room around him and at the world outside in all its green splendor. Then he looked at her emerald eyes that shone with obvious love for him and closed his eyes.

She was worth it all.

Then he put all his heart and being into the kiss that he pressed to her closed eyelids.

For a few moments they sat there, his lips on her closed eyes radiating a certain warmth, and his arms around her. Then he shuddered and disengaged himself from her, breathing heavily.

Slowly Sakura opened her eyes, after their kiss. Her heart was racing with happiness.

And then she saw for the first time in years.

"Syaoran?" she shrilled and he fell back on his knees. She could see! She could see _him._

His hands were clenched on his thighs and he was breathing as if he'd run a marathon. It was no wonder too.

Slowly he opened his eyes, trembling. Sakura gasped and peered into seas of dull amber.

His eyes were no longer the focused eyes of a man who could see perfectly as she now could. They were the eyes of someone who was blind.

He had given up his sight for her.

"No!" she wailed. "This wasn't what I wanted! I didn't mean…!"

He shook his head, "No. This is what _I_ wanted. I wanted to give you the world," he said softly and smiled at her. "In a way I feel like I did. You're worth it. You're worth it all for what I see now."

"Yeah," she muttered bitterly. "Nothing."

He frowned and immediately caught both her hands and brought it to his lips. Her eyes widened. He had the oddest look of serenity on his face. She could SWEAR that he was looking right at her. His eyes searched her face.

How could he be so calm? How could he know where to reach for her hands?

"You can…?"

He laughed quietly, "I ain't totally blind if that's what you're asking. Not that I would mind being blind if you could see again," he added. He stood up and swept around the room, touching the objects around him lightly. "You haven't taken everything from me. I can just see everything in a new light. Literally."

"I don't understand," she admitted confused as she watched him spin around to face her. He was so tall. So beautiful. Syaoran had unruly chestnut hair and amber eyes that glowed with a certain fierceness that made her heart beat faster.

"I can see various ranges of heat and cold," he declared. He held his hands up to his face. "I can see that the hottest part of my hand is the very center of my palm. I can see that you're blushing right now because your cheeks are turning red. And it's all I see. _You're_ all I will ever see."

She was blushing.

"You're like a heat detector. A Guardian of Fire who can see only heat and lack of heat," she murmured in awe.

"I'm honored," he said dryly as he walked over to the window and stared out at the multitude of heat carriers walking on the streets below. His world was suddenly one of red, green, yellow, blue, white, and shadows.

This was definitely going to take some getting used to, he thought with wonder.

"Syaoran?" she said softly. He looked down at the girl that radiated heat in her wheelchair.

"Hm?"

She beckoned him closer. And when he came close enough she threw her arms around his neck and clung to him, laughing wearily, but joyfully at the same time. Surprised, but not unpleased, he stiffened. Then he relaxed, laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her again.

------------------------------------------------------

"Hey!" Eriol shouted from a table on the patio of a quaint little place called Fourth Avenue Café and waved to them. "What on earth took you both so long! I'm bloody _hungry! _Hurry up, will you please?"

Syaoran had known in advance that Eriol and Tomoyo had reserved a table with it's own cute umbrella ahead of time. But after what had happened between him and Sakura in the hospital things had changed. They were _definitely_ not going to mention the long stroll that they'd taken in the park together to take in the world around them with new eyes. And he was _definitely_ not planning to mention the fact that they had been holding each other's hands. Or the fact that he was practically bursting with happiness right now. It was none of anybody's damn business.

Yet.

He didn't think he was ready to tell Tomoyo and Eriol that he and Sakura were now together. He'd tell his friends later. He smiled inwardly but there was scowl of annoyance on his face.

Sakura knew better and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze from where she had been guiding him around. His newly crappy sense of direction would definitely take some getting used to! At least he had someone to help him through it!

Besides, he noted at the surge of heat Eriol and Tomoyo's clasped hands were creating beneath the table. They needed some time to each other once in a while. Syaoran knew that Gabriel's death had brought Eriol and Tomoyo together closer than ever. But they had all realized that after the battle on Mt. Yanagihara, they would definitely be seeing Gabriel again in the future when the couple got married as they were destined to. And eventually, Gabriel would come along once more (after Mina did anyway).

"_Don't worry…"_ Gabriel's last words had been. "_We'll…We'll…"_

_We'll meet again someday…_Syaoran finished and chuckled. The little rat had known.

Instead he narrowed his eyes, "Shut the hell up, Eriol-pippi," he snapped back, using the honorific usually reserved for schoolgirls as he plopped himself down beside the Guardian of Sky.

Eriol gaped in mock horror as Tomoyo burst out laughing. Sakura grinned and wheeled over to the table.

So, Syaoran thought lounging in his chair and staring around at each of his friends in turn. Here he was hanging with friends laughing it up. It was definitely different from laughing it up alone like he used to. He could clearly remember being alone as a school bully before all hell had literally broken loose and he'd become a Guardian of Fire. And he actually had a girlfriend too, he added smirking like an idiot.

He liked it.

With a renewed sense of pride he plunged into the current discussion about what to order.

It was around when they started ordering that things suddenly came to a halt.

First of all the waiter was shockingly familiar.

"Welcome to Fourth Avenue Café, may I take your order," a masculine voice said out of the blue monotonously.

Syaoran recognized the dry voice immediately.

It was Skye (though the tiny nametag on his crisp black waiter uniform said his name was Sukayo).

"SKYE! What are you doing here?" Eriol cried as Tomoyo and Sakura chirped a greeting simultaneously.

"Taking your order. Now whatdya want," he replied with a blank expression. He attempted to hitch up the oversized apron, brush a rebellious lock of black hair out of his eyes, and keep a hold on the writing pad, pen and menus at the same time, but didn't really manage to pull it off. He was obviously as bored as hell and not enjoying his job as a waiter in the slightest.

Syaoran grinned and his eyes flashed wickedly, "So you're our servant? I like the sound of that! You look real _kawaii_ in your uniform, Skye." He'd only guessed that Skye was wearing a uniform. Hopefully he was, Syaoran thought nervously. He wanted to act as normal as possible despite the changes.

Skye's blue eyes narrowed in Syaoran's direction. The Guardian of Fire didn't need perfect eyesight to figure out that he was being glared it.

"Don't you DARE start with _me_, Pyro!" Skye snapped irritably. For a second his hand drifted threateningly below the table where Syaoran was sure the thick metal rings of blue fire were looped around his ankles.

Syaoran grinned and raised an eyebrow as the napkin placement closest to Skye burst into flames suddenly.

"Bring it on, Tin Man!"

Skye growled in his throat, blew out Eriol's withering napkin and flung the Menu in Syaoran's direction. Syaoran's hand shot up when he saw the object was flying at him and missed. He was strongly tempted to react, Sakura noticed, when the goth boy's hand went down the place where his metal rings were hidden, "You lose me this job, Li, and I_ swear_ I'm coming after you. I KNOW where you sleep at night! Emma's gonna have my ass on a platter if I screw this up," he snarled. "Now you orderin somethin' or what?"

Everyone laughed as they placed their order. Eriol and Tomoyo stared in shock as Sakura happily read her choices from the menu and then was even more shocked when Syaoran gruffly admitted he couldn't read the menu anymore and would have a hamburger with fries. If the TriArch goth knew something was up he didn't let it show.

The questions would come later, the Guardian of Fire thought languidly stretching his arms over his head.

Especially when he asked, "So tell us. Why's Emma gonna have your ass on a platter if you get fired. I'm curious."

Skye's good mood immediately evaporated and he stared at the table on the other side of the terrace, "Because she's taken a liking to the stupid manager. He's just her type," Skye mutteredly darkly.

The 4 Guardians craned around to look at "Emma's type". Everyone but Syaoran's jaws dropped in utter disbelief. (He was completely annoyed that he could only distinguish where Emma was and nothing about the man next to her. As far as Syaoran could see the guy's cheeks were heated and he was skinny. Big freakin whoop!). Sakura whispered in his ear what was going on.

The goth girl giggled in her extremely tight and skimpy black outfit and boots as she fed another slice of what looked like banana cream pie to a blushing, skinny and extremely nerdy looking young with large glasses and overly large business suit. She was obviously very infatuated with him. A few dirty middle-aged men shot the nerdy manager looks of envy and disgust. The contrast between the couple was absolutely mind-blowing.

Syaoran snorted.

Who knew Emma had such interesting taste in guys?

"What about Meredith?" Tomoyo asked. Syaoran suddenly became very interested with what _looked_ to be a snail hitching a ride off some sort of rodent on the gate beside him. He couldn't quite tell what kind of rodent it was by the shape alone.

Skye shrugged, "She's happy. Did I tell you she was reunited with her brother? The guy's a creep," he shuddered. He doesn't mean that, Syaoran realized while Skye took off for the kitchens. Skye was sincerely happy for Meredith.

Syaoran burst out laughing and the rest of the Guardians looked on with smiles on their faces.

A lotta good and bad shit had gone down, he admitted to himself.

What had happened to them was definitely something that would continue to bother them for all eternity. Gabriel's death had affected them all, and Syaoran was slowly but steadily getting used to life without the constant nagging of the 4 tiny sprites. But for now, it seemed that pushing back Chaos once more had eased a weight on their shoulders. Hell, things seemed to have actually turned out for the best.

Syaoran had learned a lot. He had come to discover that nothing was clearly what it seemed. Emma wasn't the person that he'd thought she was. Sure that was how she'd meant for things to be, but each member of the TriArch wasn't as dark and cynical as he'd thought they'd been (well, maybe Skye was to some degree). The TriArch had come out of nowhere. Gabriel had traveled back into the past just to die, and had discovered the light in a young man who was practically made of darkness.

Friends were not as wimpy as he'd thought they'd been. And he definitely needed them. They made life interesting, he saw. And life, was fricking _short._ Life was definitely meant to be cherished for every breath, every laugh, every kiss. Every second. You never knew when it was over and never could expect everything. Life was a party. It was precious in every way. It all depended on the people you spend it with, he thought giving Sakura's hand a squeeze.

He had friends, he had a girlfriend that he'd given and would continue to give his world for, and he was honestly looking forward to kicking Chaos' ass again in his next life (whenever that might be). But with Eriol, Tomoyo, the Triarch, and Sakura (he took her hand in his again) behind him he would be ready for anything.

Bring it.

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I can't believe it! Ladies, gents, vampires, and witches everywhere! I'm finally finished! (jumps around and people cheer and throw confetti) This is officially the last chapter of Hidden Power. I can't believe I FINISHED it! XD this is my longest story yet and I couldn't be more prouder! I really want to thank all you reviewers who have stood behind me the whole way.

I wanna thank ALL the reviewers, a HUGE thank you to my sister Poni, Gail for her input on my first few chapters, as well as to Kaede for her help on things.

You really gave me the encouragement I needed to finish this fic and go at it till the end. You guys were totally my inspiration. I hope this story was fun for you and I hope you'll continue to review. Til then PEACE


	20. AN: Afterword

.:Afterword:.

* * *

Hey everyone! Okay I don't know what to call this thing. I guess it's sort of an AN. Who knows? It's after the story so does that change anything? (im such a dork lol) ah, who gives a crap. Basically why im writing this to you was to...an afterword! There! That's what this is! Yes, this is an **afterword** where I tie up all the loose ends and point out all the hints that I put in this story! And answer questions that others should also know about. 

Yes, some reviewers have brought it to my attention that I have not been totally thorough in the storyline. I apologize, first off. It's one of those things where you realize that you should have done this instead of that and think, 'crap it's too late NOW'. I find that's happening to me more and more often. :( Especially in my story moonlight melody. Getting a lot of vampire inaccuracies that no one's caught onto yet XD I wont tell em if you don't! lol maybe im getting senile early. Other than that there are some questions that I just figured id share the answers with you. Just for the story's sake.

Anyway now that you understand, here are some questions that I've been asked:

**Q_. "You said somewhere that Sakura's blindness was due to Chaos or something. But what happened?"_**

**A.** I did mention at one point that sakura wasn't born blind and that I would put an explanation into the story later. Ill be honest: I forgot to sigh actually sakura was supposed to tell syaoran sometime while they were at the dance that she lost her sight in a fight. She used to get into a LOT of accidents before she became the Cardcaptor and met the other guardians. Objects falling here and there, almost getting run over by a few cars here and there, a car accident (she lost her mother in that one), and once, while she was collecting the Clow Cards, a cohort tried a more direct approach and attacked her. She barely survived the fight and the intense magic they used against each other screwed up her eyes big time. This whole time she never realized that Chaos was the cause for both. Chaos was always looking for ways to kill her even before she met the guardians. She was destined to stop the End from coming! Why not nip that problem in the bud, right? But what Chaos didn't realize was that it was pretty much beefing her up by making her go through all that crap. She become a tough as nails cardcaptor. A FIGHTER.

So there you have it. Sakura's story is finally told.

_**Q. "Aw, Gabriel's dead. Does his parents in the future know?"**_

**A.** Yup, they knew. Gabriel knew too. That was why his mother cried and why they were so reluctant to send him into the past. Plain and simple: they knew he was going to die if he went into the future. And it hurt them to send him off to his death. How do you get the strength to send your kid off to die? They didn't know how he would die, but they knew he was destined to somehow because Mina, his sister, predicted it. (She's really strong when it comes to magic and you can actually read her story. Picture Perfect. It's old, and I was a little silly, but it's there. My first successful story, ladies and gents. The fact that Mina showed up in this story was a BIG hint for who Gabriel's mother was if you read my other story). But they knew that something was going to happen to Sakura and that if it did, then the world would end. That was why when he was in the car with Meredith in the 14th chapter, the sun started to be blotted out. Because Eriol wasn't accomplishing what he should have. When he died to save Sakura tho everything was okay.

**Q. _"Who knew Meredith was Ryou's sis?"_**

**A.** i actually did put a hint in there that Meredith knew about her brother being on Chaos' side. look in chapter 17 right after Syaoran and Meredith came out of the cave where ryou and skye were fighting. Meredith is acting more screwy than usual:

_"Syaoran took a deep breath and turned to Meredith, whose face had for some reason, turned visibly depressed and tense."_

She was freaking out because she recognized Ryou. She just found out after so many years that her brother was fighting for Chaos. Skye was a sort of brother figure to her, so if her biological brother was fighting against her foster brother then it was definitely not good. She actually got away from the guys who kidnapped her when she was younger, though it took her a few years to do so. Getting kidnapped was just a part of fate that would eventually lead her to the rest of the TriArch. This was something I didn't point out in the last chapter. I didn't mention it, or have Syaoran put two and two together until the last minute because plainly, who the HELL is going to remember a girl freaking out when the world around you in going nuts?

**Q. "So is sakura blind or not?"**

**A.** I know sometimes it seemed really confusing. For a while I visualized things exactly as she saw things and kept writing, 'she saw' when I realized she technically COULDN'T see. Okay, lemme explain this. The way Sakura sees things is the way you would see things in a dark room. It's really dark, but you can just barely make out where the furniture is. And then Sakura could see auras. So if someone was happy, they would look like a yellow shadow. Sakura always knew that Syaoran's hair was messy because to her, he looked like a red, orange, and yellow body figure. But she didn't know if his eyes were blue or black. All that stuff. If a dog was in front of her, she'd see it's body figure.

_**Q. "What's your next fan fic going to be?"**_

**A.** I had a couple of people express they would be reading the next fic im writing. Yayayayay! Im so happy! Thank you! Right now I don't know what im going to write next. Im looking to write another adventure fic so I can get used to writing fight scenes and I have a few plots im mind. Maybe a vampire plot (im into vamps these days!) or story about traveling to other worlds with Syaoran as a ghost. Not really sure when this might happen so I cant really say XD sorry.

**Q. "_Dude, what happened to the babysitter?"_**

**A.** He's goooone. I know that he only showed up once. He should have played in more scenes, but after a while I really didn't know where else to put him in. He was supposed to be the sort of character that annoyed the rest of the Guardians but it didn't turn out that way. I wrote in the 18th chapter towards the end what eventually became of him. He was originally sent to the Guardians by the Prophet because Syaoran was taking too long as the Chooser to find the rest of the Guardians. The babysitter, who was originally named Chips, was supposed to encourage Syaoran. So when Syaoran finally did his job, Chips went bye-bye. His job was done.

Well, those are some of the questions that ive been asked. Hopefully I haven't left anything else out that I've failed to explain. If I have let me know okay and I'll add it to this!


End file.
